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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28633296">Promise me you'll live</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaKBN/pseuds/LunaKBN'>LunaKBN</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adult Content, Anger born of worry, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Combat-focused V is vicious, Confessions, Depression, Detective Work, F/M, Family, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, He can be a great asshole too, Hugs, Insecurities, Johnny can be supportive when he wants to be, Lots and lots of Pining, Mentions of attempted rape in the past, Mutual Pining, Nomad V (Cyberpunk 2077), Not Beta Read, Not canon conversations, Oral Sex, Romance, Sibling Bonding, Slow Burn, They got feelings guys, V and River worry about each other a lot, Vaginal Sex, angst I guess?, but still mostly canon, there'll be some smut too</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:41:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>53,730</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28633296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaKBN/pseuds/LunaKBN</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"He couldn’t help but chuckle. Mr. Dickless Dirtbag. </p><p>“What?” she suddenly turned to him.</p><p>“Just... Just the nickname.”</p><p>“I like giving nicknames to people. Easier to remember.”</p><p>That was an interesting thought. “What’s my nickname?”</p><p>“Haven’t decided yet. But I got a few ideas,” she answered, a mischievous grin on her face. </p><p>“Do tell,” he prompted.</p><p>“Oh, no. People don’t get to learn their nicknames. It’s for me only.” He made an almost disappointed sound, that made her chuckle. He decided that he enjoyed the sound of it."<br/>______<br/>A retelling of those three missions we got with River. I felt cheated, with how much more content the other love interests got, so I decided to improve their love story. For now, it'll be 6 chapters, but I'll see if inspiration comes to me to keep going. Three chapters are retellings of those missions with matching names, with one of my own chapters being between. Because let's be real, it felt really weird that they fell for each other that quickly. In my game it was barely the span of like three days...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female V/River Ward</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>103</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I Fought the Law</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Been lurking on AO3 for a while now and finally decided to create an account. So... Hi guys! </p><p>As written in the summary, this is mostly canon-compliant, with added conversations and working together in between their in-game meetings. English is not my first language, so sometimes sentences might get weird. I dunno. Most seem okay to me and I'm trying to improve, but feel free to comment some suggestions about it. And about typos, too. Some might've slipped past me.</p><p>I'll also maybe improve the tags, once something else comes to mind. </p><p>V's chapters will be from a first-person perspective, because the game is from the same, while River's are in third-person. I tried to stay as loyal to their characterizations as I could during their convos, but since this is fanfiction, some liberties were made.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>Chapter 1 - I Fought the Law</h1><h2>V</h2><p>I had no idea what to think when I got the call from Elizabeth Peralez as I was cruising through the city on Jackie’s Arch, just mulling my life over, thinking about what the best course of action after meeting with Takemura would be. I didn’t trust the guy. Not one bit. Even after he pulled me out of the trash heap.</p><p>I recognized Elizabeth’s last name, being the wife of Jefferson Peralez, who’s all over the news, running for the position of the mayor after Rhyne’s death. I figured they would want me to find some dirt on his rivals or hire me to do some other shit politicians like them usually want done. I hate getting into vehicles with people I don’t know, but they are loaded and I knew the pay itself would be worth it. </p><p>Still, they were not at all what I expected in person. They were… normal. Nice, even.</p><p>They weren’t trying to scheme against someone, they were trying to find out what really happened to mayor Rhyne. Of course, they already pulled the necessary strings before I took the job, having acquired the braindance footage of the guy that wanted to attack the mayor shortly before his death. Not a fan of BD, my brain’s fucked-up enough as is. But it needed to be analyzed, so I took a look. Johnny was there, of course, spouting his bullshit, as ever. Sometimes, I really wished he would just shut up already. I didn’t really mind him, we agreed on many things, but he was always making comments about everything. It was annoying.</p><p>So was the lack of real leads I had after I came out of the BD. The only things I had were the perhaps coincidental leaving of the mayor’s chief of security, the now long dead attacker, Horváth, and Ward, the gunslinger badge that took him down before he could have gotten to the mayor.</p><p>It was a curious case that had my attention. Too many coincidences made me believe there were no coincidences. It was a hunch I could only follow up with the badge, so I got his contact info from Jefferson, who surprised me when he praised Ward. Said he’s a good detective. I needed proof of that.</p><p>Out of all the places we could have met, it had to be Chubby Buffalo’s. I had been living in NC for over a year by then, and never even visited the place. I wondered just how prepared I should be for some dirty cops to drop out of thin air and ambush my ass for even daring to ask questions, so I went there all suited up, packing my best revolver. Rarely had need for firepower, the built-in blades in my forearms more than made up for the lack of it.</p><p>The diner wasn’t a good place for an ambush, too open, with near the highway. I scanned the area, just to be sure no sniper was hiding behind the concrete, but my implants picked up nothing. Was Ward really stupid enough to meet a merc he doesn’t know, who’s intentions he has no idea of, without any sort of backup? Seemed like it.</p><p>The smell of greasy burgers and fries instantly filled my nostrils, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten anything in almost a day. Somehow, running after clues that could help me save my life and scrounging enough eddies together for said intel takes effort and time. That’s why I was hoping the Peralezes would be paying well.</p><p>The badges at the table I approached stood out like sore thumbs and were in the middle of conversation. Unlucky for them, I didn’t give a shit about it and strolled up to their table, instantly getting their attention. I might have been wearing all black to blend in, but still stood out from the rest of the people around with my striking blue hair. I resisted the urge to lean on the table and just looked at Ward instead. </p><p>I recognized him the moment I stepped into the room, even though the BD footage was all pixels and glitches. He was jacked, but I had a feeling the heavy coat he was wearing added a few sizes to his build. His organic eye was tracing me the moment I stopped near them, with the cybernetic probably analyzing what he was seeing. </p><p>And honestly? I didn’t mind it, since I was doing the same to him. He was a handsome guy with a five o’clock shadow on his face and barely visible circles around his eyes. He hadn’t slept in a while, which might be the reason he was cradling a large cup of coffee in his hands as he was talking to his choom. Ward’s partner was more than surprised when he heard what case I was interested in and wanted no part in it, to my absolute delight. And he had the gall to wedge himself between me and the table, effectively pushing me back a step as he got up to leave. </p><p>I had killed for less, but I settled on giving him the stink-eye until he closed the door after himself. Only then I sat down in front of Ward. Of course, the first thing he asked me was the identity of the people that hired me. I saw the determination on his face and knew, that I needed to pony up to have a chance of getting anything out of him. His surprise only lasted for but a moment, and he went quiet, silently looking at our surroundings. That was the moment I knew I had him; that he was going to talk. </p><p>But… what’s up with everyone offering me rides on this job? I can drive, people! I was driving when I was five. Wasn’t good at it, but I could get from point A to point B without running over anyone. That’s what mattered.</p><p>Sure, sure, in this instance, he wanted the privacy of his truck, but he could have easily just told me to follow him somewhere away from prying eyes. And I would have followed. He didn’t strike me as someone I needed to watch my back around. I never let my guard down completely, of course, but the paranoid and alert part of my mind was quiet as we discussed the case. He asked what my read on Jefferson was, the real reason he hired me. I had been thinking about that myself, so telling him that I thought he was scared something like this might happen to him if he gets elected was easy. </p><p>I wasn’t at all surprised when he practically invited himself along, but seeing as he was the guy with the informant that could tell us the location of the club we were trying to find, I didn’t protest. Besides, I was still sitting in his truck and it was raining, and my car was parked in my garage. It would take it a long time to get through the city and arrive at my location. Then again, Jackie’s Arch was still parked at Buffalo’s, so… </p><p>I should’ve asked Ward if I could put my bike on the back of his truck. There was enough space for it… Damn, should’ve thought about it there. Then I wouldn’t be worried sick some gonk will try and steal it.</p><p>We lapsed into silence after deciding on who we would pay a visit to first, and it was all going swell until I got a few calls myself. One was from Rogue, calling me back to Afterlife, the other was a job offer to sneak in somewhere and get some data and the third was Misty checking up on me, on how I was doing. I nearly snapped at her, that I would be doing better if I had a moment to breathe, away from clients and job offers and constantly being on the Holo even during my jobs, but I knew, that she was worried about me. So, I gossiped with her for a bit, had her read me tarot and was just as clueless afterwards as ever. I just… didn’t get it. How could she tell all that from some images? How…</p><p>I heard a scoff, that was bordering on a laugh coming from Ward. “You’re a busy woman, it seems,” he commented without taking his eyes off the road.</p><p>I cracked a confident smile at him. “I’m good at what I do.”</p><p>“Been doin’ it for long?” </p><p>There was no point in lying to him, nor shooting his attempt at a conversation down, so I decided to answer. “A little over a year now. What about you? When did you join the NCPD?”</p><p>“Been ten years now, I think. Patrol officer for a while, then I was made detective. I… had a habit of being nosy around crime scenes we needed to secure. Eventually, word spread about my suspicions and observations being right, so here I am.”</p><p>“Working a case behind your superiors’ back,” I added, eliciting a small chuckle from him. </p><p>“Yeah, I guess so. But I know, that I’m right about this case being more than what the public was told.”</p><p>“I agree with you on this, that’s why I took the job. And the fact that Jefferson was singing praises about your skills as a detective made the decision easier. I don’t like working with amateurs. More things could go wrong. I’ve had enough of wrong lately,” I murmured under my nose.</p><p>“Oh?” he asked, prompting me to elaborate. </p><p>I didn’t feel like it, so I shrugged. “Do a lot of jobs; sometimes, they don’t go according to plan. That’s all I’m saying.”</p><p>“I get it. Gotta protect your rep.”</p><p>“Gotta protect my privacy,” I countered. </p><p>“That the reason you go simply by V? You know, I looked you up after you called. You have a rep in certain circles as someone that can get things done. Yet not one source could tell me your real name.”</p><p>“Why are you interested in my real name?” He didn’t react, as he was too busy honking at an asshole that slammed on the brake in front of us for no fucking reason. “Giving you a hint: it starts with a V.”</p><p>“What a surprise!” he snarked at me, then honked again, this time at another driver in front of us. </p><p>He was not a patient man. I sort of understood. He was solely focused on solving the case and that was a familiar mindset to me. I had been called to solve some mysteries by myself, so I had some experience with cases like this one. </p><p>“Do you usually work jobs like this?” he soon restarted the conversation. He was right. He was particularly nosy.</p><p>“Whatever’s available. I’m not the only Edgerunner in the city.”</p><p>He raised an eyebrow at me, glancing at me briefly before giving his attention back to the road ahead. “Assassinations, too?”</p><p>“Why?” I asked back tentatively. It was way too specific. Why did he single out that one? “Do you want to hire one? I know a few, but I don’t do assassinations.” I went quiet for a second. “Okay, only if the fucker really, really deserves it. And I always make sure, that they do before I accept the contract.”</p><p>He scoffed. “Like what? Scorned wife hires a hitman to kill her cheating husband?” I could tell by the tone of his voice, that I was dancing on thin ice, but I didn’t care.</p><p>“I don’t care about disputes like that. I’ve only accepted two so far, out of the dozens that were offered. One was a pedo, that was kidnapping kids under ten, selling them off to the scavs after having his way with them and or violently mutilating them. I usually work in absolute silence, but I made the fucker scream his lungs out for hours before I let him die,” I all but snarled, clenching my fists. I could still see the scene I found after I finally tracked him down. No matter how much I tried purging it form my memory.</p><p>“Damn,” I heard his quiet reaction. “I didn’t even hear about this case. Why were the police not informed?”</p><p>“They were, they just didn’t feel like spending enough energy on a bunch of kids, who grew up in the gutter. Probably thought them worthless. One of the parents hired me, scrounging up whatever money their small community could find. I couldn’t bring any of their kids back, so I refused the eddies.”</p><p>“You were too late,” he deduced with a contemplative, quiet voice.</p><p>I nodded before continuing. “One of the girls died in my arms. I think about her a lot. About what I could have and should have done differently. But… the thing is, that job took priority the moment I accepted it. I spent my own money to get all information I could from the local fixer, and as soon as I had his location, I hightailed it over there, driving like a maniac. I couldn’t have done anything else.”</p><p>“You did good, V. You gave their parents closure and ensured something like this wouldn’t happen to anyone else.”</p><p>“Don’t kid yourself. There’ll always be predators like him around. Sick fuckers.”</p><p>He sighed. “Sometimes even I wish I could be freer with how I do my job. Only I’m bound by a set of rules and regulations that are just a pain in my ass and good for nothing. If we were allowed to utilize every resource at our disposal, the NCPD would be solving cases like that one.”</p><p>“Then I’d quickly be out of business,” I pouted at him, which he couldn’t see, as we finally arrived to the small market we would find Horváth’s employer at.</p><p>We were swiftly out of the car, the conversation all but forgotten, and we separated, taking different sides of the market to investigate. I got lucky, the owner of the first noodle stand I came across was able to tell me where we could find this Christine. And while I was there, I used the situation to buy myself some food.</p><p>I was already slurping down the noodles when I caught up to Ward. He gave me a look as he spotted the food in my hand, but didn’t comment. He kept staring, though, even after I pointed Christine’s shop out to him.</p><p>“D’you want ‘ome?” I asked him with a full mouth.</p><p>“I’m good, thanks.” He was giving me a small smile.</p><p>“Then stop starin’ at me. I gotta eat too, you know. It’s been nearly a day since my last meal. Trying to save a life keeps me occupied,” I muttered as I swallowed and began stuffing my mouth full again.</p><p>We were nearly at the electronics stand when he stopped. “Trying to save a life? Then why are you working this case?”</p><p>I chewed a bit to be able to speak. “Info costs money. I make money on jobs like this. Come on,” I encouraged him and kept walking towards our destination. The sooner we interrogate her the better.</p><p>In the end, this trip was completely useless, barring the food I managed to eat without throwing up shortly afterwards. It was becoming a rare occurrence. I was quickly running out of time. Damn, I knew, I should’ve saved some eddies for an emergency such as what I found myself in. A race against time itself. Just my luck.</p><p>The same luck that pulled me into the vicinity of a badge who is apparently known by the Tygers enough that they recognize his truck. He asked me to let him handle it and I was fine with it, still munching on the last portion of my food. One of the gangmembers tried to knock it out of my grip as he walked past me, but I was quicker and dodged his half-hearted attempt. If Ward wasn’t there, leaning on the wall by then, I would’ve impaled the guy on my blades and he never would’ve seen me coming.</p><p>I only gave the badge my attention when they were out of sight and he cleared his throat. I decided to tag along to his CI, since my bike was still kilometers away and so was my car. Besides, he was the one that actually knew the guy, so it was only logical that I accompanied him. I threw the container of the food into the first trashcan I saw, without even looking at it, then shrugged as I saw Ward’s baffled reaction and just got into his car.</p><p>We were barely out of the area before he turned to me. “Who are you trying to save? Someone close to you?”</p><p><em>“Don’t fucking tell him a word, V,”</em> I heard Johnny pitch in.</p><p>
  <em>“I wasn’t going to, don’t worry. I know just what to keep private.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Really? Because you seem to be awfully forthcoming with this badge.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I hadn’t told him anything of import, Johnny. Cool it, okay? I need to keep the conversation going, since I’m stuck with the guy for now. Need to be able to work together.”</em>
</p><p><em>“Better not bite us in the ass, is all I’m saying,”</em> he added, then he was gone again, with me nearly forgetting Ward’s initial question.</p><p>“I’d rather not talk about it, if you don’t mind.” He simply nodded in understanding before lapsing into silence again, one that lasted until we were nearly at his CI’s location.</p><p>It happened to be a sex shop. Ward didn’t strike me as the kinky kind of person before, but to have an informant in a shop such as that one quickly changed my mind about him. He couldn’t see the curious look I was giving him as he pulled up on the sidewalk. Then he promptly told me that I should be the one handling this, since he was on the outs with the guy; their latest info-exchange didn’t go in his CI’s favor. </p><p>I rolled my eyes, agreeing to go talk to the guy on my lonesome, and while I was there, I observed the shop’s available items. I saw a toy, that I would’ve even bought a couple months ago, but nowadays, sex was the last thing on my mind. Especially since I began sharing headspace with a rockerboy turned terrorist, who had a habit of making comments at the most inopportune moments. I definitely didn’t need him to see me getting off, even by myself. Especially by myself. </p><p>Walking up to the counter, I was met with a guy, who was sporting the absolute worst haircut I had ever seen. I only barely managed to contain the frown that was tugging at my lips and focus on the codephrase Ward told me. The guy’s entire demeanor changed within a friction of a second and he bolted out the door behind him. I vaulted over the counter before the door had a chance of closing and slipped after him. </p><p>The cop must’ve been watching this unfold, since by the time I was out in the alley, right on the CI’s heels, he was on the other side, imposingly blocking off the man’s only escape route. And yeah, I wasn’t surprised to see that he was strong enough to practically throw the guy into the wall to prevent him from leaving. I was surprised however, that he pulled a gun on him, trying to threaten the guy into spilling the info we needed. </p><p>I figured he was playing bad cop, so I decided on playing the good one, trying to assure Neil, that he would be kept safe, that no one would be able to tell where we got the information of the club from. He did tell us what we needed to know, so we were one step closer to finding the truth.</p><p>I dare say Ward looked impressed as he looked at me and asked if I would be meeting him at the location or tagging along. He didn’t even need to ask. I had a feeling we were close to solving the case and it made no sense to split the team up at that time. </p><p>In a minute, we were already heading to the location. I noticed Ward stealing glances at me, so after a few minutes, I sighed.</p><p>“Spit it out already,” I prompted him to speak.</p><p>He cleared his throat, almost embarrassed. “I’ve never worked with a merc before, and honestly, you’re not at all what I was expecting.”</p><p>“What did you expect, then?”</p><p>“Someone that’s more likely to pull a gun out and threaten people into spilling the info they need and not someone, who’s an expert weaving her words charismatically enough to get the same results.”</p><p>I made a thoughtful sound. “Isn’t the former what you just did, though?” He snorted a laugh at that. “In this case, I figured since you were playing bad cop, it would fall to me to play good cop. It worked.”</p><p>“Yeah, that was my intention. You let me handle the Tygers on my own, so I was hoping you would be smart enough to follow my lead this time, too. It was a surprise, though, that you did indeed let me handle it.”</p><p>I shrugged again. “We are working together on this. Countering your every move would only hinder our investigation and would make no sense. It’s better we do this as a well-oiled machine, than through teeth-clenched teamwork. Just because I’m a merc doesn’t mean that I cannot work with others when needed.”</p><p>“So I’m beginning to see. You’re good at this.”</p><p>I smiled at him. “Just like I told you. You should’ve believed me the first time, detective Ward,” I playfully teased him. I had a feeling he wouldn’t mind, and the smile he reacted with confirmed it. I found him exceptionally handsome when he smiled.</p><p>I was beginning to think, that teaming up with him was not such a bad idea after all. Might even be beneficial to us both. I certainly found myself enjoying his company. I hadn’t worked together with anyone since Jackie… Since he…</p><p>Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to work with anyone. Maybe I was bad luck.</p><p>Damn, I missed him so much. My one true friend, pretty much since the moment I met him. To think, that if he hadn’t taken the chip out and given it to me, he would be the one in my shoes, having been revived by said biochip… I would’ve gladly changed the outcome in his favor. He had much more to lose, than I ever did. His family and Misty most importantly, while I had no one. My family literally fell apart with my parents joining another rival nomad family after my brother died. They were adamant on their own survival, disregarding the fact, that several of them attempted to rape me when I was younger. My only luck was that I was always a fighter. Breaking off from the family that didn’t seem to care about me the least was the best decision of my life. Mama Welles cared about me more while I was living under her roof than my own parents ever did. How fucked-up is that?</p><p>“Alright, we’re almost there,” I heard the cop’s words, breaking through my trip down memory lane. </p><p>I blinked rapidly, clearing my head and focusing on the area around us. We were on the outskirts of the city, in Animal territory. Ward parked the truck a ways away from the warehouse, that was supposedly hiding the club we were looking for. I couldn’t say I was surprised when he decided to hang back, not wanting to be involved in any fights as a cop without a warrant to search the place. It was fine by me. I snuck my way to the front gate, while Ward called me to be in touch during my infiltration. I hid behind the concrete wall as I hacked into the nearby camera, out of view to the nearest gangoon. I spotted a few of them, marking each with my implants, then jumped from one camera’s views to the other, marking as many of them as I could. I even found the club, trashed and empty.</p><p>Since I wanted to do this quietly, I snuck my way around, staying low and out of sight, until I saw an opening. I informed the badge, and then I was in, opening a floor grate into a small building. Barring some equipment, it was empty, no Animals in sight. I opened the door, then was nearly spotted by a camera over the warehouse’s entrance. I decided to breach it, and successfully shut all of them down, giving myself a few minutes to move around freely. </p><p>I wasn’t going to use the front entrance to enter, and circled around the van nearby, heading towards the back of the building, looking for another way in. I found it and using my technical knowledge, was able to open it. I was looking for a basement entrance as I entered the main area, knocking out all of the Animals I could see and dumping their bodies into various containers to cover up my tracks. I even went upstairs to the catwalk, when I realized, that I saw no obvious entrance to another room. One led outside, and I was almost caught as I opened it. My only luck was that the gangoon was leaning on the metal railing, facing away from me. I dealt with him, too, then was back again. There was a control room upstairs, that I was hoping could give me the location of the club, but there was still nothing. </p><p>I still had a few minutes until the cameras were back online, so I used this time to lean on the railing of the catwalk and just observe the area below me. I knew, that the entrance was closer than I would expect, probably hidden somewhere away from prying eyes. And what would be better, than a large shipping container in the middle of the warehouse? </p><p>I quickly made my way down to it and tried the door. It was not locked and revealed some stairs leading down towards an elevator. Clever.</p><p>“I found the entrance. The shipping container inside the warehouse, the middle,” I whispered to Ward. Just in case I missed someone. </p><p>“Good job, V. Keep me posted.”</p><p>“Will do.”</p><p>I made my way to the club, arriving to a small hallway. Through the glass of the door, I spotted two gangmembers, talking about something I didn’t give a fuck about. As soon as they got going, I entered, heading for the one that stayed downstairs. I choked him out in one of the hidden booths, arranging him as if he was just sleeping. There was no place for me to hide him in, no crates, wardrobes, nothing. This was the best I could do.</p><p>I scanned the upper level for the other guy and found him patrolling back and forth. I made my way over to him, then was nearly spotted by the camera that came back online and that I promptly disabled within a second. The guy was sleeping on a chair soon, booze in his hand. I wasn’t going to leave him sprawled out on the floor.</p><p>I entered the next area, hearing a conversation coming from the office to my right. Before going in there, I handled the last member downstairs, also in a booth. She spotted me and was already opening her mouth to cry out when I put her in a chokehold and broke her neck, lowering her body onto the seat. The last person upstairs was still on the holo, so sneaking up on her was easy. She was a large woman, so it took me a while to choke her out. But at least I managed to get some information out of her while I was at it. </p><p>At last, I was free to investigate the nearby computer, finding the evidence needed to finish up the investigation. I believed Ward when he said he didn’t know that his choom was involved. </p><p>“Hold on. The room he died in is right next to the one I’m in. I’ll investigate it for more clues before I leave,” I informed him after he told me to get out of there.</p><p>“Okay. The more we have, the better.”</p><p>It was a filthy nook, the same as the others before, with the only thing my eyes were picking up being the BD headset that lay abandoned on the seat. Since the mayor supposedly died in a heart-attack, I was curious what he was watching that could have induced that if it were true. I regretted putting that thing on my head the moment I did it.</p><p>The world glitched out around me and everything went black as I screamed myself hoarse from the virus that began attacking me the moment I entered the braindance. It seemed like all but a second, before a mildly panicked voice called out to me and large hands took the headset off my head, only to then wrap around my biceps to steady me. </p><p>I let out a string of curses as my vision focused on the cop crouching in front of me, desperately trying to get through to me. And he had the gall to snark at me when I asked him what he was doing there. I didn’t hold it against him, though. He looked genuinely scared that I got hurt. His response was a defense mechanism involuntarily activated in a panic-inducing situation. He must’ve heard me scream and hightailed it over as fast as he could.</p><p>His hands stayed wrapped around my arms even after I stood up, standing on wobbly legs for a few moments. But the pain subsided quickly and we could leave the club, sure of our findings. The death of the mayor was no accident. He was killed by Weydon Holt, no doubt about it. </p><p>I could practically feel the anger radiating off Ward as he made contact with Han, calling for a meeting at Chubby Buffalo’s. His jaw was tight enough I thought even the slightest more pressure would make it pop out of its place and he was gripping the steering wheel with such force his fingers were going white. I saw it best not to strike up a conversation, and I was too busy with my head, that was still doing its best trying to explode. This fucking virus didn’t help my decaying health at all…</p><p>Fuck!</p><p>“Fuck!” Ward unknowingly echoed my own thoughts as he pulled up to the diner. Han was already there, smoking and circling Jackie’s bike.</p><p>“No touching,” I warned him as I got out of the truck and closed the distance between us.</p><p>He scoffed. “Yours?”</p><p>“Why the surprise? I need to get around the city somehow,” I reacted, keeping the cold tone. I wasn’t about to make a friend out of the guy, and he became painfully aware as Ward stopped next to me with his arms crossed above his chest.</p><p>He was still fuming, and I suspected he lost all respect he had for his choom, as well as all common sense when he threatened Han to take matter to internal affairs and get the case officially reopened. I completely agreed with him, but it was a stupid thing to do, one that could jeopardize his entire career in a matter of weeks. He didn’t care, though. </p><p>I stayed out of their conversation, pointily ignoring all of Han’s attempts to bring me into it. I was only there to solve the case; I didn’t give a shit about NCPD internal debates and problems. My job was done already, with only reporting back to the Peralezes remaining. </p><p>I debated calling her right there, but Ward was already leaning on the concrete wall, looking out over the city, angry as ever. I knew, that if it was up to him, his partner would’ve been arrested already. But he was smart enough to know when he is beat. I joined him there, watching the city for a minute, staying silent until he spoke. I encouraged him to keep pushing for justice to be served, then tentatively put a hand on his shoulder. He looked like he needed some form of support.</p><p>“You’re a good cop, a good man. Don’t let assholes like him get to you,” I told him as I squeezed, then dropped the hand, ready to leave. “Take care.”</p><p>“You too, V. And thanks.” I gave him a small smile before I approached Jackie’s bike and reached out to Elizabeth, forgetting about it being the middle of the night. </p><p>Turned out, neither of them were sleeping yet, so I was invited to their apartment. It was… spacious. I could’ve lived in a place like that, too. Maybe one day.</p><p>I told them everything we found in detail and warned them about Holt. Jefferson was also running in the mayoral election, so he needed to be vigilant when it came to his rivals. They paid me generously, so as soon as I was out of the building, I dropped a text to Ward.</p><p><em>“Transferring you half of my payment. Couldn’t have done it without your help.” </em>I barely sent it, I was already sending the eddies his way.</p><p>
  <em>“Didn’t you say, that you are trying to save someone and that’s why you need the money?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“There’s always another job for me. Don’t start fighting me now and just accept the eddies.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Thanks, V. It’s appreciated.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“And well deserved.”</em>
</p><p>I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I took this job from the Peralezes but meeting the one good badge in the whole of Night City certainly wasn’t among those expectations.</p><p>____________________________
</p>
<h2>River</h2><p>It was just another day in the office for River, filled with mandatory paperwork about his active and just closed cases. He wanted to finish up early, since he was supposed to meet Han at Chubby Buffalo’s to finally have that coffee together and discuss his nephew’s recent disappearance. It weighed heavily on him, he practically helped raise Randy when Joss’ husband turned out to be a good for nothing gonk. </p><p>He was aware, that the kid had problems, but he wouldn’t have thought him the type to just up and leave his family behind, especially not without a trace that could be followed. And there were no traces for the NCPD to even begin an investigation. Randy became just another person, whose files were promptly shoved on the shelf to be forgotten forever. He simply couldn’t allow that. There had to be a way to find him, to bring him home!</p><p>River had to hold out hope, that he didn’t run off to join a gang, nor was he kidnapped off the street, like many others before him. But none of his contacts heard anything, so he had Han put his own informants to work. That’s why they were to meet in the diner.</p><p>Just as River was finishing up at his desk, he got a call from a merc that went by V. She told him she was investigating the death of the mayor and was told he could provide some intel. Out of curiosity, he decided to indulge her request and set a meeting at Chubby’s, no better place suddenly coming to mind. And he was already headed there anyway. It was as good a place as any to see if she was even worth helping.</p><p>As he was driving, he went through the police database, looking for any mentions of an edgerunner called V. He didn’t have much info, she tended to stay out of police business and had no warrants against her, no bounty on her head. He even asked a few mercenaries he was acquainted with about what is to know about her. They both told him she was the merc that people turned to when they needed something done. She had done many different kinds of gigs for many, vastly different people. A merc without a code and a love for eddies. She was the same as the others. What a surprise, that one.</p><p>She must’ve already been nearby, since she arrived there minutes after they did, dressed in black from torso to toe; her striking blue hair was short, half of it tucked behind her ear. A pair of also black aviators were pushed up to the top of her head, since she had no need of them in the current, cloudy weather. Her face was… well, River found her pretty on first sight. Pierced eyebrow that was elegantly shaped, light makeup that emphasized her eyes and her cheekbones, complete with black lipstick on her lips that were tugged into a smirk as she was also analyzing him, no doubt. </p><p>And despite being a merc, she wasn’t running around with an arsenal full of weapons. He saw nothing but a revolver as his cybernetic eye raked her body, looking for anything hidden. Something they had in common, then.</p><p>It was no surprise to him, that Han wanted no part in the investigation she was conducting and tried to persuade River himself to just drop the case already. River couldn’t. There was something, that didn’t add up. Something, that kept him captive, that urged him to hear V out, help her with the case. He knew the people that hired her, even trusted them to an extent, so that was absolutely in favor of assisting her. </p><p>He wasn’t about to let her walk away with the information he had, though, so as a way to coerce her into working together with him, he proposed they take his truck for a ride to talk away from prying eyes and ears. It always took him a while to warm up to people, yet he found it easy to talk to her. She was so confident in her own abilities, almost to a fault, that fascinated him. He was testing her, testing how far he could push her before she revealed her real self, what she really was like underneath the merc mask, but after their conversation in the truck, he had to realize, that she wasn’t wearing a mask. She was laying all the cards out for him, not lying about herself. At least, he didn’t think so. She seemed genuine. A professional.</p><p>Then she went ahead and decided to get herself some food in the middle of an investigation, like it was the most natural thing to do. Not a care about his opinion, not an ounce of wanting to apologize for prioritizing her rumbling stomach, nothing. Yet she found Christine’s location before he did and beckoned him to follow her. River couldn’t help but wonder whose life she was trying to save. Family? Friend? A significant other, perhaps? He decided to ask her later, when they were back in his truck.</p><p>He knew, that Christine’s wasn’t her first interrogation by the questions she asked, even though she was not at all embarrassed to speak with a mouth full of noodles. He was beginning to think nothing could embarrass her. Oddly, it only added to the charm. </p><p>They didn’t learn much at the market, but he knew, that all information counts, they didn’t know what could prove useful in the end. V seemed to agree as she nodded, still chewing as they made their way back to his truck, that was being vandalized by two Tyger Claws. He called out to his partner to let him handle this; he didn’t know just how gung-ho she was in a dangerous situation. He didn’t want this to escalate into a full-blown fight. The merc just nonchalantly shrugged in response, finishing her meal and staring at the gangoons with a hardened expression. She was all ready to enter combat mode if needed, he could see. She was alert, but made no effort to react to the gangmembers, ignoring their remarks to her. V was doing as asked, following his lead. Honestly, he didn’t expect her to, when he asked. </p><p>She was less than impressed with the Tygers, as one of them bumped into her, earning a gaze that could kill. He had a suspicion that it could if she wanted it to. She was packing some serious cybernetics underneath her light skin. </p><p>He couldn’t help but smile at her remark of the streets being too dangerous by his side. It was rich, coming from a merc who constantly puts her own life in danger on the jobs she is hired for.</p><p>Unsurprisingly, he didn’t get an answer to the question he was aching to ask, but he could see her confidence crack a little, falter with something that looked a lot like grief and pain. No matter his own curiosity, he respected her boundaries, her privacy. It was… refreshing to hear that even a merc has loved ones they are willing to risk their lives for. The two he was familiar with? They were both loners through and through, not at all like V. </p><p>As soon as they arrived to Neil’s shop and he informed her that maybe going in all by herself would be best, she was giving him a look of amusement mixed with incredulity. He had no idea why, until she was out of the truck and on her way to the entrance. To the sex shop. Right. He suddenly wondered if that was why she was looking at him like that before. Just what kind of pervert could she think he is, having an informant that owns a sex shop?</p><p>Fuck.</p><p>He was out of the truck in the next second, manning up to join her, but all he could see from the entrance was Neil bolting through the door that led to the nearby alley and V running right after him. He turned around immediately, deciding to close off Neil’s escape. V joined him all but a second later, not even winded after the short sprint. She wasn’t pulling a gun on the CI, though, just stood there as nonchalantly as she could, with her arms crossed above her chest. She practically weaponized her words, changing her voice to one full of compassion and honesty. It worked like clockwork, smoothly, and the man was spilling the location of the club within a minute. She rewarded the guy with a charming smile, one that held even River captive and only lasted until Neil was out of their sight. Then her neutral expression was back, staring him in the eye as they decided to go to the club together.</p><p>He couldn’t help himself but comment on her ability to talk her way out of certain situations, and she took the compliment in stride adapting a friendlier tone that he was quickly fond of. He only wished it lasted longer than it did. V had a lot on her mind, he could tell by the series of emotions he could see on her face after their conversation died down. He was all but sure, that she was grieving someone close to her, but also felt guilty for something. Survivor’s guilt, perhaps? Did she lose a partner recently? Was this individual’s death what she meant earlier? Was it a job gone wrong? </p><p>It was not his place to ask. She was closed-off and wouldn’t have given him an answer anyway. So he drove in silence, parking his truck a good distance away from the location they were given. She was quick to pick up on his problem with the city’s gangs. So quick it almost annoyed him. She wasn’t only quick-witted, she was also extremely intelligent.</p><p>She had to have a bad side too, right? She couldn’t have been this… this perfect. No one is perfect, no one is without flaws. But V… V was a whole another category. </p><p>River was restless as he was waiting for any signs from her, any news about her progress within the warehouse. He hated sending her in alone, but she worked quietly, her dark outfit blending in with the shadows. He could sometimes hear faint sounds of choking and containers being shut and could tell that she was covering her tracks. He wondered whether she left them alive at all. </p><p>He was close to boring a hole into the pavement with his restless movements as he waited for her. After around ten minutes, she found the entrance and headed down immediately. River had to remind himself, that as a cop, he definitely shouldn’t be seen there, when he had the not so bright idea to join her. He resisted the urge to follow, letting her handle it.</p><p>A few relatively quiet minutes later, sounds of a scuffle was back, as she probably held someone in a chokehold. He could hear her interrogation, with her voice losing all of its gentleness. V was practically snarling the words to her captive, appealing to her gangoon nature to get the needed information out of her. Then she promptly choked her out. </p><p>Not even a minute later, she was forwarding him a video. About his partner, Han. Covering up the mayor’s death. </p><p>Son of a bitch. No wonder he was so against this investigation. </p><p>River barely managed to stop himself from growling like a feral animal. He had never been this furious before. Right in front of his eyes. His own partner. What the fuck was wrong with the world?</p><p>How could he not see it? It should’ve been obvious.</p><p>Fuck!</p><p>V’s voice cut through the fury that threatened to overwhelm him, saying that she wanted to investigate the exact spot the mayor died. Then she was screaming into his ears with clear agony. It was a sound he never wanted to hear, and one that didn’t let up and nearly deafened him. </p><p>That was the point he decided not to care about being a cop and just hopped into his truck, riding straight at the entrance of the warehouse. He shot the camera above the gate before it could’ve recorded him, then shot the surprised gatekeeper gangmember, that was completely unaware of what happened to the rest of her friends and what was happening in the club. This was an unauthorized investigation, which meant he couldn’t leave any traces behind, nor did he need to write a report that detailed his actions. As far as everyone’s concerned, he was never here. He only needed to make sure to avoid the cameras. He ended up shooting all he saw. He didn’t know how long V had, by the sound of her agonized screams, so he had to hurry. </p><p>He rewatched the footage she forwarded him to make sure he was going the right way, straight at the booth the mayor died in. He found her there, sitting on the floor, writhing in pain, with a BD headset on her head, her nose bleeding and her eyes glowing. He wasn’t even thinking, just approached her and ripped the headset off her, being sure it was the cause of her pain. A wave of relief washed over him as after half a minute of him not doing anything, but desperately calling out her name, her eyes slowly focused on him and her erratic breathing slowed as she attempted to calm herself. </p><p>For the first time since they met, she was vulnerable and weak, her face still full of lingering pain as she just breathed and all but demanded to know what he was doing there despite being a cop, going against his own words. He just wanted to tell her that saving her life sounded better than losing her because of her carelessness, but she was frowning at the response he ended up giving her. Then informed him, that Rhyne was definitely murdered by whoever installed a virus onto the headset.</p><p>A virus, that was slowly killing V, too. If he decided to wait a little longer… </p><p>He shuddered at the thought. To be killed this way… It was…</p><p>She murmured her barely audible thanks to him as she stood, with his hands still around her biceps to steady her. To her credit, she pulled herself together in record time, as if things like this happened to her on a daily basis. What if they did? What if she got close to dying every day? What if she actually enjoyed the thrill, the adrenaline?</p><p>But no, River didn’t think so, as she was obviously still recovering even in the car, staying silent. He had a feeling she was more shaken than she let on. Focusing on her made him feel slightly better, but even it wasn’t enough to quiet the storm that was brewing inside him. To say that he was pissed was the understatement of the century. He made sure to let it all out at Han the moment they arrived, and his ex-partner’s lack of regret and emotion made him all the more furious. Han showed absolutely no incentive to take responsibility to his own actions, instead trying to shift focus onto V, who was expertly staying out of their squabble. Disdain was more than readable on her, though, as she watched Han leave in his car, without so much as sweating after their encounter. </p><p>Looking over the city calmed him a bit, and so did the featherlight touch on his shoulder and her encouraging words to not give up despite the setbacks. She could be really sweet when she wanted to be. But she was already walking away, having completed her job and having no need of him anymore. </p><p>A part of him hoped, that they would be in touch afterwards, but he sincerely doubted it. She didn’t even look back over her shoulder at him, just hopped on her bike and sped away. She still stayed in his view for a while, expertly making her way around cars, caring nothing about traffic laws and red lights. How she never got hit, he had no idea. It was downright suicidal, the way she rode that bike.</p><p>He was in his truck a few seconds after he lost track of her, planning on heading to his apartment to get some rest after a night like this. He would go to internals in the morning, when he had a clearer head. </p><p>He was nearly home, stopped at a red light, when he got a message. From V.</p><p>Before he got to the end of it, he got the notification of receiving over a thousand eddies from her. Well deserved, she added. </p><p>River didn’t know what to expect, when he decided to tag along on this investigation case with V, but finding Night City’s only merc with a heart of gold certainly wasn’t it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Stranglehold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A new case just landed on River's desk. He is way too eager to ask for a certain merc's help with it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this is the first of the chapters that's out of canon. It's an investigation case and videogame logic applies to everything regarding detective work - because, of course, they find that one lead they need. </p><p>The length kiiinda just ran away with me. I expected it to be around 2000-3000 words, but, oh well. Enjoy.</p><p>Oh, and River is piiining after V. Because I got the sense, that he developed feelings for her way before she did for him.</p><p>(There was a hefty chunk of this chapter missing. Somehow didn't get pasted correctly over from Word. Thank you heather0feather0 for bringing it to my attention! I was wondering why it was almos 2000 shorter, than in Word. :D It's all fixed now!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>River</h2><p>It’s been a couple days since he took matters into his own hands and the top brass was already breathing down his neck. As if he didn’t have anything else to worry about. There were still no news of his disappeared nephew, and a new, exceptionally gruesome and disturbing case just landed on his desk. Probably his last one, as things were shaping up. Still, he didn’t regret reporting the true cause of the mayor’s death. People needed to learn the truth. </p><p>He only wished his superiors thought the same. But they were all dirty and in on the whole thing. He might as well have been screaming at a wall. He did do that, at some point, on the outskirts of the city, away from everyone and everything. He had years and years of pent-up frustration that he needed to just let out already. </p><p>So he grinded. Case after case, investigation after investigation. Some solved, others shelved for later, when inspiration came to him to continue. The case of the murderer aptly nicknamed as the Strangler, was shaping up to be the latter. It was yet another thing, that infuriated him nowadays. The killer was still active, racking up quite the body-count on various parts of the town, seemingly randomly choosing his victims. </p><p>He had been looking at the detes he had gathered already, staring into each victim’s lifeless eyes, the matching strangulation marks on their necks and just how different they all were from each other. Different ages, gender, ethnicity, location. No kids or teens, though. At least that was a relief. </p><p>They had absolutely nothing in common. Not even mutual friends, nor enemies.</p><p>He had been sitting on the case for nearly a week, with one more dead body turning up each day. He was quite pressed for time, and didn’t really know what else to do, so he decided to suck it up and just call a professional merc to aid his job. Luckily, he met one he deemed perfect for the job not long before they gave him the case. And since he already had her contact info, all he had to do was call her.</p><p>V picked up after a second. His ears were instantly full of gunshots and screams and explosions and V’s muttered curses.</p><p>“Now’s reeeeally not a great time, River,” she grunted as she, or someone near her fired a few shots from around her position, then made a sound that could only indicate she got hurt. “Sonofafuckingbitch!” she snarled at someone. “Not you!” she quickly realized he was still on the line, not even being able to speak a word. “Call you later!”</p><p>River was left speechless after she hung up, just blinking in front of himself, processing what he was hearing. It was barely over nine in the morning, and she was already in a firefight. And an intense one at that. </p><p>He was sitting on the living-room floor of his apartment, all the case files sprawled out in front of him like a rug, and it was all but forgotten as he could hear nothing but her voice echo in his head. It definitely sounded like she was in way over her head at the moment, and that worried him enough to consider calling her back to demand her location. He wanted to help her out of trouble.</p><p>Then he promptly scolded himself as he got a can of soda out of his fridge and sat back down. Not like it cleared his head at all, but at least it cooled him off a bit. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that she could be hurt, hell, she could be dead already.</p><p>He didn’t know what was going on with him lately. Since when is he worried about a woman he barely knows? With whom his sole contact was days before, and only for a couple hours at that? He didn’t even know her real name, for crying out loud! And he was sitting there, cold drink cradled in his hands, worrying about her safety. Why?</p><p>He jumped a little when he got a call. His momentary relief was all but washed away when it turned out to be Joss.</p><p>“Hey, River. Sorry to bother you, I know that you are probably working. Just… I just need to know… Is there any news about Randy? Anything at all?” his sister sounded so exhausted. He knew, she would’ve needed him to be there for her, to help with her kids, but he needed to focus on his job if he wanted to keep it and keep supporting them financially. He had to make a decision and he chose to keep his distance.</p><p>“Not yet, Joss. But I’m looking through all the NCPD channels every day to see if he shows up somewhere. I got nothing so far. I’m sorry.”</p><p>Her sigh told him more than her words would have. She got the answer she expected. “I see. Thanks, though. Are you… are you coming over for dinner today? The kids miss their uncle. And I miss my brother.”</p><p>He gave her a small smile. “I miss you guys, too. But I’m working a case right now. I don’t know when I’ll finish it. I’ll… try to stop by if I have the time.”</p><p>“You never do, River. You always say that, but you never do. Just take care of yourself, okay?”</p><p>“I will. You too, Joss. And say hi to the kids for me,” he added quickly, but she likely didn’t get the last sentence. </p><p>He chugged some more soda down, then sighed deeply, refocusing on the Strangler. It wasn’t long before he was called in to work, some construction workers having found yet another body. He jumped into his truck and headed for the scene as fast as he could to be able to catch the crime scene mostly intact. He needed to be there to make sure they got every clue there was. As the lead detective on the case, he had help from the officers on scene, who jumped at his every command.</p><p>River first requested the footage from the nearby camera, and while others were busy doing that, he was narrowing the time of death down to between midnight and 3 a.m. with the coroner’s help. It was a rainy evening, but the vic’s clothes were dry on the front, meaning, she was killed after it stopped raining. There were no muddy footprints leading away from her, however, but other than the nearby scaffolding, that was way too high for anyone to jump up to, there were no unconventional exits that were away from the camera. He had another two officers check the perimeter around the site, looking for broken or missing fence, anything resembling sabotage and break-in. They came back with nothing, much to his dismay.</p><p>He was out of there after he investigated the body, too, making sure it was the same perp. He found the exact same marks on the victim’s neck, so he was sure it was the Strangler, with the same MO.</p><p>It certainly looked like it.</p><p>When he was done with the crime scene, he stopped by the precinct to print out the photos he took, then he was back in his apartment, adding the new photos to the growing collection. What was he not seeing still? Even after hours of staring at the photos, observing every detail. </p><p>An hour later, they managed to identify the victim. Not that it helped him at all, but at least he was able to visit her family and inform them of what happened. They took it as well as family members usually do, sinking into themselves, barely being able to form a complete sentence. And as usual, they could not name anyone that could’ve wanted to hurt their daughter. All of the victims were saints, apparently, before they died. In a city full of crime and sin. It was almost unbelievable.</p><p>It was almost three already, when he got a call. He prayed it to not be about another victim. There was usually only one per day, but you can never know with psychos.</p><p>It was V. </p><p>“Hey,” she began, her chipper old self already back after her rough morning. “Sorry about the morning. And not calling back earlier. Shit was going down and… honestly, I completely forgot that you called until I checked my messages and calls to see what I missed. Again, sorry.”</p><p>“Hey, V,” he greeted her with a small smile on his face. It was good to hear her voice. “I understand. You needed to prioritize.” She nodded as she frowned, dissatisfied with herself. Or his reaction. He couldn’t tell. “I called to ask for your help with a case of mine. I’m… I’m not rolling in eddies, but… I could really use the help.”</p><p>“Mhm,” she thoughtfully reacted, obviously less than pleased about not getting any money if she decided to help him. He wasn’t surprised. Asking a merc for help was always risky. He was already beginning to regret it. But he hoped, that… That she would turn out to be different. That she would maybe agree to help him. Just because. “What do you say we call it a favor?” her question broke through his racing thoughts. “I often find myself in need of some help on my jobs. You know, looking for leads, stuff like that, where a second pair of eyes could be more than useful.”</p><p>He couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “Deal. That’s exactly the reason I’m asking for your help. To get another opinion.”</p><p>She gave him a heart-melting grin. “It’s settled, then. When and where do we meet?” </p><p>He looked around himself. The info he had barely left any open space on his floor, there was no way they could do this investigation at a public venue. Not without drawing unwanted and unneeded attention. Sure, they could probably find a quiet and secluded corner somewhere, but he wasn’t too keen on doing that. So he sent her the coordinates of his apartment, hoping that he would not regret it.</p><p>“Inviting me to your apartment? River, we barely know each other,” she reacted with a playful, teasing voice, that made him wonder, whether she knew just what hearing it was doing to him. It was smooth as silk, practically caressing his skin.</p><p>He couldn’t help but roll his eyes as a reaction to her friendly teasing. “Just get here when you are able, ‘kay?” </p><p>“Sure. I’m nearby, anyways. Be there stat,” she agreed, then cut the call. </p><p>River had a feeling he would be regretting giving her his address, but there was no going back now. All he could do was making sure there was at least some semblance of order to the place. He washed the dishes he should’ve washed days ago, put his used clothes out of sight, into the clothing hamper in his bedroom, then as he was putting the trash in the bin, a knock startled him. He suddenly found himself nervous and needed to take a deep breath to steel himself as he walked up to the door. </p><p>He was met with a breathtaking sight as he opened it wide for V, silently inviting her in. She looked nothing like she did their previous meeting, barring her hair and makeup. Those were the same, but the outfit was different. The form-hugging jeans she wore emphasized her thighs – and her ass –, as she walked inside, giving him a smile. The leather jacket was changed to a biker overcoat with a Samurai tank top under it. She was already taking the jacket off as she was entering, giving him a view he admired while she had her back to him and couldn’t catch him staring. </p><p><em>“Damn it, man. Pull yourself together. This isn’t a booty call. This is work,”</em> he thought to himself as he forced his eyes to find another target to look at. </p><p>As he closed the door, she was already draping her coat over the back of the nearest chair, all the while staring at the pictures laid out on the floor. Then as she realized, she had his attention, without even looking at him, she tossed a box at his chest. It smelt heavenly to him. </p><p>“Brought you some food, in case you hadn’t eaten today. I know how it gets when the case is tough,” she glanced up at him with a small smile as she plopped down on the floor, pulling her legs up and crossing those as she opened her own box. </p><p>It was incredibly thoughtful of her. “Thanks.” He hadn’t even realized, that the only thing in his stomach by that point was soda. </p><p>It didn’t even cross his mind that the food could’ve been poisoned, he was already taking his place next to her and opening the box that turned out to be full of different kinds of meats and rice. She was already digging in as she stared at the pictures, and he soon followed her example. The food was great.</p><p>“So, as we munch on the food, tell me about what I’m seeing,” she prompted with an already full mouth. </p><p>He told her everything, pointing out the pictures of the crime scene he was currently talking about. He had already put those in chronological order to make the investigation easier. The more he said, the more horrified she looked. She probably realized, that there was one death every day, putting together just why he was desperate enough to ask for her help. She was attentive, soaking up all the details, asking questions to clarify if she was unsure about something and he could tell, she was already just as focused on this as he was.</p><p>“Do you have a map of the city? Physical copy, I mean,” she asked him as he finished his meal and stood up to put the empty box in the trash, taking her empty box, too while he was at it. </p><p>“Yeah, I should.” He tried remembering where he saw it last as he raked his eyes through the living-room. “Somewhere,” he added. It didn’t take long for him to remember where he left it in his bedroom and entered it to collect the map. </p><p>When he returned to the living-room, the first thing he saw was V, on her hands and knees, holding herself up above the pictures. His mouth instantly ran dry as he took in the view; the well-toned, tattooed arms holding her weight, her deep-cut tank top not leaving much to the imagination regarding her breasts, as he had a perfect view as she lifted her head up, and immediately snatched the map out of his hands, hopefully without noticing his hungry gaze.</p><p>God, she was quickly driving him insane.</p><p>He felt like a fucking teenager again, barely able to control his obvious attraction to her. </p><p>This was a mistake. He shouldn’t have called her. He couldn’t focus on the case itself. At all.</p><p>But then she was laying the map out on the floor, asking “Can I also get something to write with?” and he was blinking, clearing his head. “And a sheet of paper if you’d rather keep the official case files intact.”</p><p>He quickly provided both and watched her write numbers from 1 to 13 onto the paper, then she was tearing it up and placing the numbers on the map, to the exact spot the corresponding death occurred. She sat back on her heels after she was done. </p><p>“Okay, so we know, that our perp started near Jig-Jig Street,” she pointed at the location. “Then headed north, northwest, west, and now keeps heading south. Have you been to the crime scenes? Do those have anything in common? Did the vics live near the place they died?”</p><p>“I visited all, yeah. No connection, as far as I could tell,” he answered, only to be rewarded with a deep frown. Then her eyes were back on the map, the frown remaining on her face for a few long minutes. He could only watch her in silence, he didn’t want to disturb her thoughts.</p><p>She let out an exasperated groan as she slowly stood up. “I’m gonna go see the scenes for myself.”</p><p>“V, some of these are over a week old. You likely won’t find anything there.”</p><p>“I know. But I need to see it for myself. I don’t know how the killer walked away from most of these without leaving any kind of trace behind. Especially the last one. No sets of footprints in the mud. No matter how light someone is, footsteps are always visible in the mud. Besides, I doubt out perp is light, with how he was able to choke out even the fourth vic, whose body was easily even double your size. And you are already well-built.” She was suddenly eyeing him with a critical look. He was slightly saddened, when he realized, he saw absolutely no evidence in her gaze to her being as attracted to him as he was to her. </p><p>“Alright. But I’m going with you.” She didn’t protest, so he took it as an agreement. “Are we taking my truck?”</p><p>She laughed. “Oh, no. You drive like a grandma, River. I’m driving this time.”</p><p>“Like a… You mean, not like a maniac? Abiding the laws of traffic? Unlike a certain merc I know?” he shot back as he crossed his arms above his chest. </p><p>She was still smiling at him. “Yeah. Stopping at red lights, all that… Live a little,” she tried coercing him into agreeing.</p><p>He hated that it was working. Mostly. “Fine. You can drive. But you are going to drive safely, V.” </p><p>Her playful smile quickly turned into a smirk as she got her coat off the chair, put it on, and headed for the door. “Yes, sir, detective, sir,” she mocked him as she opened the door, and backed out, saluting him.</p><p>River knew, this woman would be the death of him one day. How she could go from a professional merc one minute to a playfully teasing woman in the next. He slowly shook his head as he took his own coat and locked up his apartment. V was leading him to the street level, and for a moment, he thought she would be driving his truck. Instead, she was opening the car parking right next to it, a Caliburn, a high-end sportscar that he had no idea how she was able to afford. He just stood there, silently for a few seconds.</p><p>“Well, come on, hop in,” she encouraged him, clearly entertained by his reaction. Maybe that’s the reason she left her bike and chose the car. She just loved surprising him, didn’t she? And the worst about it was, that she <em>could</em> surprise him. </p><p>“H-how could you afford a car like this?” He couldn’t keep the sheer wonder out of his voice even if he tried.</p><p>“Just get in already and I’ll tell you on the way,” she said as she popped her head out of the car. </p><p>He slipped into the leather seat and man, it was more comfortable than his bed. He could’ve easily fallen asleep right there if the chatty woman beside him wasn’t distracting enough. In a good way.</p><p>She rolled out of the parking spot and onto the street, already going faster than the speed limit within the city. Then she started talking.</p><p>“So, I have this friend in the Badlands, well, she wasn’t really a friend then, more like an acquaintance, but I needed her expertise out there, so I decided to help her out before we dealt with my problem. Her problem being her ex that was threatening her family and joined up with a rival family, earning her thunderous fury. So, together with her, we made sure said family was no more, and in the tunnels of their base, we spotted this metal container, right there in the way, no guards around it, nothing. I’m a curious person, of course I decided to investigate. I found this beauty,” she affectionately ran her hands along the steering wheel, “just sitting there all by her lonesome, without an owner to take care of her. Naturally, leaving her there to gather dust or be found and then abused by someone far less gentle than myself was not an option. That’s it. That’s how I came to own a car like this.” She finished on such a proud tone he couldn’t place anywhere.</p><p>“Right,” was all how he could react. He was still processing the information he was given. </p><p>He could see her mouth curl up into a smile as she focused on the road, not looking at him anymore. She did hold up her end of the bargain, barring the speed limit. She didn’t drive like a maniac. </p><p>“Any news about the mayor’s case?” she asked him all but a minute later.</p><p>“Well, all I achieved with not shutting up was exactly what I expected; I’m dancing on thin ice, with my career on the line. I’m holding out hope that it was worth it.”</p><p>“Your choom did tell you, that this is what would happen if you decided to push it,” she commented thoughtfully.</p><p>“If I recall correctly, you even agreed with me on it,” he pointed it out. She nodded.</p><p>“True. But I’m not the one who can lose their badge and their entire career over it. It’s easy for me to speak, I have no stakes in the matter. Hypothetically speaking; what would you do if you lost your badge?”</p><p>“I honestly don’t know. Take some time for myself, definitely. Then who knows? Maybe become a PI? That way I could keep doing what I’m doing.”</p><p>“Cops usually don’t like private investigators,” she mused as she overtook an entire lane of cars and took a left at the intersection, the car’s rear drifting out a little. River was all but gripping whatever he could find. By that point, he was certain that woman had a death wish. V had the nerve to laugh lightly at his reaction.</p><p>Then her face went all but slack, as her eyes lit up with a blue glow, and she blinked, the warm smile back on her face. </p><p>“Panam, what’s up?” she asked the person that was calling her. “Whoa, whoa, slow down, girl, slow down. Breathe. What happened to Saul?” She was quiet for a few seconds, listening to her acquaintance. Friend, perhaps. He tried not to care, but he couldn’t help but keep his ears open for any kind of information that he could learn about V. Then she slammed on the break at a red light she was willing to run before. “WHAT?! The fuck were they thinking?” she all but snarled, then growled, almost like a feral animal. It was such a huge contrast to the woman that was smiling at him kindly a few minutes ago, he didn’t know what to think. “I’m working right now, but I’ll get there first thing in the morning. If all goes well. Alright. Keep them out of trouble for a little longer, please? Right. Tomorrow, then.”</p><p>She was gripping the steering wheel with such strength her muscles were bulging on her arms. It was… quite the sight. She was impatiently tapping her fingers on the wheel, waiting for the light to turn green.</p><p>“You know, I wouldn’t hold it against you if you wanted to help your friend instead,” he tentatively told her. He was lying. Sort of. He could see the struggle on her and understood that she was worried, but he was selfish and wanted her to stay, to keep helping him.</p><p>The warmth from her tone was gone when she spoke next, with the cold, calculated professional’s voice taking its place. “I promised, that I would help you with this case. So I will. I always keep my word.”</p><p>“V, it sounded like your friend needs help this minute,” he insisted, despite himself. </p><p>She gave him a death glare. “What, and you don’t? Then tell me what I’m doing here, heading to a crime scene with you,” she demanded, her jaw tightened. He wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of such a glare and attitude, and it must’ve showed on him, since she tore her eyes away from him, and took a deep breath. “Sorry, River. I shouldn’t have… You fucker, can you not see where you’re going?” And she was honking at the driver that closed off their route, her apology all but forgotten. </p><p>She definitely had some issues.</p><p>She eventually managed to maneuver around the car and sped towards their destination. River figured silence would be best, so he didn’t strike up a conversation until they had arrived. The police tape was already gone, the CSI units had finished their work already. At least, they didn’t have to worry about dirtying the scene itself.</p><p>V parked on the sidewalk in front of the construction site, scaring some pedestrians who ran away screaming. River thought they overreacted, but did give the merc a warning gaze as he stepped out of her vehicle. She just winked at him, then was off to the site, stopping at the exact spot the first photo was taken. </p><p>By how she was looking everywhere, with her gaze sometimes lingering on a location or object for a few seconds, he realized, that she was analyzing what she was seeing. Eye-implants. Of course, she would have high-tech eye-implants. </p><p>A minute later, she was approaching the spot the dead body was found, and turned towards him. He didn’t follow her, just watched. He had already gone through the motions the first time he was there; he knew, that they would find nothing. He was thorough. </p><p>“Okay, so we know, that the vic was killed here,” she stepped slightly to the right, to the middle of the outline that was still there. “By the marks visible on her body, the most likely position of her attacker would be behind her, with how the wire’s indentation curves slightly upwards, meaning our perp is most likely taller than she was. It’s also safe to presume, that she was lured here, with the place of her murder carefully chosen not to be in eyesight of any of the nearby cameras, but the one above the gate, that could’ve easily been disabled. That also means, that she knew her attacker, trusted him enough to come here all by herself, in the middle of the night. Have they pulled any footage from the camera above the gate?”</p><p>“I haven’t been informed of it yet, so most likely no,” he answered her question. </p><p>She frowned. “It’s gotta be connected to a computer nearby,” she muttered, walking back to the camera. She needed a moment to stare at it, then she was off towards the nearby mobile office, easily overriding the locked door. He didn’t want to tell her, that she’s breaking the law, but… She was… “Don’t look at me like that.” As if she could read his mind. “We need all the information we can get. Your techies are already probably looking through this footage, but we are in a hurry if we want to find the guy before he kills again. And technically, this is a crime scene. So…”</p><p>He rolled his eye. “Just do your thing, V. I’ll keep lookout,” he told her as he leant on the doorframe, keeping her in his sights, as she bent down to the computer to hack into it. </p><p>“No wonder your guys hadn’t called yet. Someone deleted the recordings of last night,” she informed him, still staring at the screen.</p><p>“Can you recover it?”</p><p>“Yeah, probably.” She was done in a few seconds, letting out a triumphant laugh. “Got it. Alright, let’s see… Last night, hmm, I think we should check before midnight, too,” she said, already sitting down, as he made sure no one was watching them. He approached her and leant on the chair, looking at the screen above her head. She was fast forwarding through the footage, until the vic walked into the frame, on the phone with someone.</p><p>V rewound the camera to the moment she appeared and played it at the normal speed, focusing on the victim. Luckily for them, it recorded sound, too. </p><p>
  <em>“This is so exciting! I’ve never done anything like this. We’re usually meeting at Sunset Motel, but he’s picking me up this time, told me to meet him near his apartment. He’s so mysterious, I love it. I know, I know, that he’s a joytoy, but… he’s different, you know? He just… he gets me. Understands me. The sex is also amazing. You know, he is the one that does the thing with his tongue, that I told you about earlier… Yeah, yeah, that. Mhm, just… Ah, I can barely contain myself. I gotta…” </em>
</p><p>River was sure she would’ve kept going, but the feed cut out suddenly, along with the sound. </p><p>“Did someone turn off the camera?” he asked V, who was nodding instantly, then craned her head up to look at him.</p><p>“But at least we got two leads. The joytoy and the motel they usually meet at. Which one do you want to check out first?”</p><p>“The motel, since we don’t know anything about the location of the joytoy.”</p><p>“Might be Jig-Jig Street, since the first murder was in the nearby tunnels. Maybe the first was self-defense. Then he learnt he had a love for killing and kept going? Who knows? Let’s check out the motel. It’s on Martin Street, Northside.”</p><p>He raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re familiar with it?”</p><p>“I recently had to rescue a guy hiding there from the Tyger Claws. It even has some cameras, so we might get lucky and see our guy with the vic.”</p><p>“That’s an insane amount of footage, V.”</p><p>“Not necessarily,” she countered, standing up. “If we can get the logs at the reception, we’ll know when the victim rented a room there. I doubt, that our murderous joytoy would spend any eddies on placing a reservation on his own name. Besides, she didn’t sound bright enough to at least use an alias,” she continued as she figured they were done with the place already. Then, stopping at the vic’s outline, she stopped again, chewing her lips. “No footprints,” she murmured, staring around. “But how would a joytoy afford hover-tech? Even I couldn’t get my hands on those feet-implants,” she remarked, sounding jealous.</p><p>“Hover-tech?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s still in the experimental phase. Feet-implants, that allow the user to hover a few inches off the ground. It would explain the lack of footprints.”</p><p>“Maybe. But you said it yourself, it’s experimental. How would he aff…” He bit the sentence off when he remembered the job of one of the victims. “The second victim, Becca Chaplin was working in a research and development center, testing and creating implants. She got divorced not long before her death, with her husband taking everything from her. She was struggling financially, so maybe she stole the implant and offered it as payment to the murderer.”</p><p>V bounced on her feet, hearing all this. “Alright, we’re getting somewhere,” she grinned. “So, we can presume, that the only commonality between the victims is who they liked to fuck. We track him down, we find the murderer.” She swiftly turned around, approaching her car. He followed her, also feeling energized by the turn of events.</p><p>He was hoping, that they would be able to save the joytoy’s next victim before it’s too late. </p><p>“How do you plan on convincing the receptionist to give us what we need?” he asked V as she started heading for the motel. “I don’t have a warrant for any information they have.”</p><p>“How long would it take you to get one?”</p><p>“Hours.” </p><p>He could see the disappointment on her face as she frowned, shaking her head. “We can’t afford to waste hours waiting for a piece of paper.”</p><p>“Do you have a better idea?”</p><p>“I can convince the receptionist to give us what we need even without a warrant. You might not like my method, but it’s an option. Ooor, we could always just use our charm and sweettalk them. I’ll let you decide.”</p><p>He raised an eyebrow at her. “If charming isn’t the first method, then what does the first entail?” River wasn’t too keen on putting on the charm for just about anyone, nor was he good at it. He didn’t even remember the last time he even tried seducing someone. The nature of his work didn’t leave him with enough free time to maintain a steady romantic relationship. His last girl left him when she realized, that his job often took priority.</p><p>“Well, it’s usually a less... nice method. Everyone has something they want to hide, something to hold against them. By appealing to their nature that would want to keep such details hidden, they could be blackmailed into giving us what we need.”</p><p>“Why do I get the feeling this is the one you usually end up with?” </p><p>She grinned at him. It was enough of a confirmation. “Because I’m a mercenary and not a joytoy? Although unfortunately, these two are the same to some people.”</p><p>“Speaking from experience?” </p><p>“Yeah. One example is a shady club owner, who wanted to hire a merc to repossess one of his stolen belongings, but also wanted to meet them beforehand to discuss the detes of the stolen object. For my misfortune, I was the merc that showed up. Young and attractive. Just his type, as it turned out. He got reeeeal handsy real quick. The fucker wouldn’t take no for an answer, even going as far as climbing on top of me as I was sitting on his couch, trying to pin me down. All the while saying that he was going to give me a good dicking, the best I’ve ever had. Well, he’s not gonna fuck anyone ever again; at least not with his own dick. The strike of my knife was extremely precise.”</p><p>River couldn’t understand why he suddenly felt so furious over someone attempting to rape her. Naturally, the act itself was against his nature and he despised it with all his heart, but the thought that someone would do that to her, that... that made him want to punch the bastard himself. But the way she was talking about it... It certainly wasn’t the first instance of such a thing happening to her.</p><p>“How many times...?” he asked her. He would’ve understood if she declined him an answer, but the question gnawed at him.</p><p>“I stopped counting a while ago,” her quiet answer came. “You know, I even tattooed myself, pierced my eyebrow and decided on wearing my hair like this to make it even less likely someone would find me attractive. Most people still don’t like tats, nor piercings, not goth-style makeup... Yet every once in a while, an asshole pops up out of nowhere, thinking himself charming, when in reality, he’s just another creep among all the others out there.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” was all he could react with. </p><p>She sounded so bitter about it, too. But all the things she did so that people didn’t find her attractive was what made her stand out. What had his attention. Was she really convinced, that she made herself uglier with the tattoos that ran from both her upper arms to her clavicles? If anything, its intricate design kept him captivated when they were in his living-room. And suddenly, all those thoughts he had about her then, about how attracted he was to her... All felt wrong. Like he shouldn’t. But River wasn’t like either of those men, so he didn’t know why he was feeling suddenly guilty.</p><p>He saw her shrug. “Meh. I got used to being treated like that. And it’s not that big of an issue anymore, since I got a better reputation now. Not many dare to voice their untoward thoughts, if they have any. And, they no doubt heard about Mr. Dickless Dirtbag, and his eventual suicide. Many blame me for it. I always tell them that they can go fuck themselves.”</p><p>He couldn’t help but chuckle. Mr. Dickless Dirtbag. </p><p>“What?” she suddenly turned to him.</p><p>“Just... Just the nickname.”</p><p>“I like giving nicknames to people. Easier to remember.”</p><p>That was an interesting thought. “What’s my nickname?”</p><p>“Haven’t decided yet. But I got a few ideas,” she answered, a mischievous grin on her face. </p><p>“Do tell,” he prompted.</p><p>“Oh, no. People don’t get to learn their nicknames. It’s for me only.” He made an almost disappointed sound, that made her chuckle. He decided that he enjoyed the sound of it. </p><p>“You know, V, I find it weird, that you would even attempt to charm someone after all you’ve been through.”</p><p>“I don’t enjoy it, believe me, but I had to quickly learn that there are jobs, where I need to use everything at my disposal; every advantage I have over my adversary. Even if those advantages happen to be my tits and my ass. I’d much rather use my wits in most scenarios. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s not an option.”</p><p>“Like it wasn’t an option this morning? That fight sounded intense.”</p><p>She uncomfortably fidgeted in her seat, suddenly not finding the right position to sit in. “Yeah. Can’t exactly reason with cyberpsychos.” River just barely managed to keep his jaw from falling into his lap. She fought a cyberpsycho. Alone. And she won. “I got there not long after your colleagues responded to a call about the situation, the same one I was informed about. They were the ones doing their best to shoot him as I sneaked closer. I was in the middle of the call with you when the fucker spotted me with his sniper rifle and shot me.” She slightly lifted both her jacket and her tank top up to show him the still pink, but already healed scar. </p><p>“Sorry for distracting you. I didn’t know--”</p><p>“I’m not easily distracted, River. He would’ve shot me regardless.”</p><p>“How’d you manage to kill him?”</p><p>“I didn’t. The person that hired me wants cyberpsychos alive to try and help them. I simply rebooted his system as I got close enough, knocking him out.” The idea to help them was new to him. “But... there have been some I just couldn’t keep alive. I barely kept myself alive during those fights.”</p><p>“I’m surprised you even dared go up against one completely on your own, without any sort of backup.”</p><p>“Make that seven of them,” she corrected him, with a certain pride to her voice. It didn’t even cross his mind that she was lying, but she easily could have been and he wouldn’t have been the wiser. Nor would he have cared. He was already impressed enough as is.</p><p>It even crossed his mind to tell her about Randy, see if she had contacts that could tell her some info. But no, that was way too personal, and no matter how much he was beginning to like her and how much he definitely enjoyed her company; they weren’t friends. They barely knew each other. Asking for her help even before their current case was closed... Besides, she needed to help her actual friend first. Maybe after that, he would ask her. Maybe it wouldn’t be too late for his nephew.</p><p>If it wasn’t already.</p><p>No. Randy was alive, and River would find him soon and bring his runaway ass back to his mother, even if he had to be dragged by his feet.</p><p>“I feel sorry for them, you know. The cyberpsychos,” she confessed. “I usually find shards of information with them, detailing just what they’ve been through. Those that I’ve encountered before were either changed against their will and couldn’t take it and went mad as a result, or they did it to themselves out of sheer desperation to save a loved one. One of them just wanted to get his daughter back from the Tygers, who were keeping her against her will, whoring her out for profit. I found her corpse in one of their vans nearby.” Her voice quieted down almost to a whisper by the end of the sentence. “She was beaten to death.”</p><p>“And there are so many like her out there, that we don’t know about,” he replied, equally sullenly. “That no one might know about, but their abuser. That’s why I’m so desperate to close this case,” he admitted. “That’s why I became a cop. To stop murderers like him from walking away scot-free.”</p><p>She scoffed. “Too bad you can’t actually prevent the murders of those they already killed.” </p><p>She wasn’t wrong. “But at least I can help the living. Take the serial killers and rapists off the streets one by one.”</p><p>“Don’t you ever just want to... I don’t know... Shoot them? That would be an easier way to deal with it. Less paperwork. You mentioned, that you don’t like paperwork.”</p><p>“It’s actually more paperwork if I shoot the perp and kill them.”</p><p>She scoffed again, rolling her eyes. “Ugh, of course it is. Naturally. So, I guess you want this one alive, too, right?”</p><p>“Preferably.” She frowned. She was very expressive when she wanted to be.</p><p>“Then I’ll behave,” she told him like a petulant child that was just scolded for stealing her sibling’s favorite toy and was reluctant to give it back. Reminded him of Monique and Dorian. </p><p>Maybe if they closed the case soon, he’d drop by and visit them.</p><p>He sighed. “Do you think we will catch him today?”</p><p>“I hope so. If we find nothing at the motel, we can always ask around Clouds, or Jig-Jig street, or any other place where he could be working. If that doesn’t pan out, either, we can scour the area south of the construction site. He would probably strike there next. We would need a few more badges for that, and we would likely need to break up the team, since I doubt you actually got permission to ask for a mercenary’s help with this.”</p><p>“I wonder what gave that away,” he quipped at her.</p><p>“The desperation in your voice. But mostly the attitude,” she added, knowing full well he didn’t require a response. “We’ll catch him. You can go back to your family without needing to hide out in an apartment.”</p><p>He just blinked at her, not being able to say a word, to breathe. How the fuck did she know about his sister? Even most of his fellow cops know nothing about his personal life.</p><p>She noticed his silence. “The picture on the wall of the living-room. Nice family.”</p><p>Ah. That’s how. “Yeah. My sister and her kids.”</p><p>“Oh. You two look nothing alike. I thought that… she is your wife.”</p><p>He let out hearty laugh. “Ah, no. I’m not married. Being a cop is not exactly compatible with a married lifestyle. Joss and her kids are the only family I have, as of yet. What about you? Any family?” She still hadn’t told him whose life she was trying to save.</p><p>“Had a brother; he died years before I came to NC. And I’m sure, that my parents are still kicking out there, roaming the Badlands with their clan.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t care much for them. My best friend’s mother was more of a mother to me while I was living under their roof for a few months than my own ever was. I’ll die happy never seeing my parents again.”</p><p>“What did they do to you?” He knew, there was a reason for her obvious hatred.</p><p>“We used to be a part of the Bakkers, a nomad family. My parents could see, that our clan was slowly, steadily diminishing, disappearing, so they took incentive and arranged a meeting with another family in hopes of assimilating into that one. I was their offering. They handed me over like a sack of potatoes, without a care of what would be done to me. That first night was when I first killed someone.”</p><p>“It was self-defense. Instinct,” he commented, already suspecting the circumstances of what went down.</p><p>“Does it matter? I didn’t stop with one, killing all of those bastards that wanted to have their way with a fifteen-year-old girl and realized, that I was finally good at something. Then I stole one of their cars and rode out of their camp. Dunno what happened to them since that. Don’t really care. I only went back to the Bakkers after my parents were long joined up with another family, having been kicked out of the Bakkers for what they did to their own daughter. Eventually, the clan did fall apart, landing me here, in the city of night, where one way or another, darkness wins. No one survives the city,” she commented thoughtfully.</p><p>“Why end up here?” </p><p>“Dunno. It’s where the road took me.”</p><p>“Don’t you ever miss it? Being a nomad?”</p><p>“Every day. I feel like a caged animal in the city. Closed off, suffocating. The Badlands have their dangers, but there’s a sense of freedom out there, that cannot be found in here.”</p><p>There was truth to what she was saying. He often found himself driving out of the city after an exceptionally busy day only to just lay down on the back of the truck and stare at the night sky. Sometimes, it was the only thing that calmed him down.</p><p>He wondered if V ever needed an outlet for her pent-up frustration. Would it only be in the form of shooting things and people, or would it be something he would never expect? He had his money on the latter; she had a habit of surprising him. He could imagine her being interested in literature. Or music. Or shooting even more things. Breaking into houses, klepping whatever she can find… No, that didn’t seem to be her style.</p><p>“We’re here,” she once told him, the rest of their journey spent in comfortable silence. He hadn’t even noticed how much time had passed. He was so deep in his own head, wondering about her preferences regarding many things. Men included.</p><p>He knew, that he shouldn’t have been thinking about such a thing. Not with her. Not with a merc. Only the more they talked, the more it slipped out of his control. Shit.</p><p>She was already out of the car before he even managed to hush these thoughts of his, so he had to all but run after her. There was no one in the lobby of the motel, but the receptionist, listening to some music as she uninterestedly picked at her nails. He noticed that the two cameras present turned off as soon as those came into V’s view. Intelligent, indeed.</p><p>V walked straight to the receptionist, putting her elbows up on the counter immediately, giving the girl a friendly smile. “Hi,” she began. “My friend here lost his wallet in the motel a few days ago.”</p><p>River immediately felt the girl’s eyes on him, obviously not recognizing him. She just shrugged. “Then it’s gone already,” she reacted.</p><p>“Listen, Carlos owes me one. I pulled his ass out of the fire a month ago,” V continued. River had absolutely no idea where she was going with this. “He was at the reception the night we were here. If we could just take a look at the camera footage, we would be out of your hair in no time.”</p><p>Still no reaction from the girl. “Nope, sorry. My dad would kill me if I ended up losing this job, too. Finding a job where I have to do practically nothing all day is really hard, ya know?” </p><p>V sighed. He could feel that her patience was thinning with every second. Then he saw her eyes light up for a friction of a second. Not long after, the girl began violently shaking, whimpering and eventually falling. She nearly hit her head on the edge of the counter, but V was already laying on top of it, catching her. </p><p>“What the fuck, V?” he asked her.</p><p>“Neither of us were charming this one, River,” she reacted coldly, her legs still dangling off the counter, while her upper body was laying on top of it. He would’ve gladly admired the view, had he not been pissed at her.</p><p>“So you what? Decided to knock her unconscious?”</p><p>“She’ll be fine, don’t worry. Now, go around and help me get her into the chair. I can’t get over the counter while holding her.”</p><p>Since the damage was already done, River found it best to just do what she told him to and took the girl from her grasp, putting her on the chair nearby. Her limp body immediately began sliding off it, so he kept his large hand on her shoulders, keeping her in place.</p><p>“What’s the plan?” he asked his partner, who was already on their side of the counter, heading for the nearby computer.</p><p>“We check the visitor’s log, then check the recordings.” She scoffed when she tapped on the screen. “It’s not even password-protected. Well, at least it’s going to be faster. Okay, last victim’s name is Tamara Bursch, right?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Okay,” V searched for the name in the logs, and found one dating back to a week before. “She was here exactly a week ago, from 10 pm to 1 am.” She was already checking the camera footage the next second, finding the needed time period in record time. </p><p>V was completely blocking his view, so all he could see was her backside. For what felt like the umpteenth time that day. He quickly averted his gaze before he was caught staring and focused on the unconscious girl instead. After about a minute of trying, he managed to put her into a position, that kept her from sliding or turning off the chair. </p><p>He could finally join V, who had already found that day’s recording and was nearly at the time period they needed. The vic checked in at the reception at 9:45, then just sat there, her legs anxiously bouncing up and down. She was all but staring at the entrance, waiting for the joytoy to arrive. He did, just before ten. </p><p>The man was tall, lean built with pink hair and a flamboyant outfit. He was sure many found him attractive, but he wasn’t River’s type. River instantly snapped a pic of the guy and sent it over to the others working the case to start identifying their perp. V might’ve done the same, since she straightened out and her eyes lit up. </p><p>“Hey, Wakako, how are you? Why do you think that I need anything?” she asked her informant. Then she theatrically rolled her eyes. “Well, okay, yes I do. Flicking you a pic. You recognize the guy? Is he working around Jig-Jig Street? You know everyone there.” She was quiet for a few moments, obviously waiting for a reply, then her face lit up with joy and showed him a thumbs-up. “I... find myself in need of some company. I heard, that his tongue-game is second to none, just what I need. Can you send me his contact info? You’re the best. Yeah, I’ll drop by and we can discuss the job you have for me.”</p><p>And just like that, they had their guy. He had no idea how he could’ve done it without V’s help. Without her connections.</p><p>“So, our guy goes simply by Colorful Adam, he’s usually working on Jig-Jig. I’mma call him and request a meeting for today. Does that work for you?”</p><p>“Yeah. Nova.”</p><p>“Great,” she sent him a smile, then called the murderer. “Hi! Name’s Vicky Sanchez,” she began, adapting a very... high tone. He wondered if that was indeed her real name. He doubted it, though. “We don’t know each other yet, but my friend Tamie, er, sorry, Tamara, gave me your contact info days ago, saying, that you are the man to go to if I need to unwind. And since I hadn’t heard from her today, I'm betting that her night with you was spectacular.” She went quiet for a moment. “Aha, no, that rate’s perfect. I’m using my boyfriend’s eddies, anyway. He’s loaded but he’s a lazy ass gonk in bed. I need some pleasure already. Can we... meet tonight? I really, really need someone to fuck me right now. I’m willing to pay extra. N-now? Okay, hold on a sec, wiring you the money now. Done. So, where will we meet and when? Aha, yeah, I know the place. I’ll be there. Thanks.”</p><p>River couldn’t help but smile at her, how perfectly she played the part. She didn’t falter, she just kept rolling with what the guy wanted, even going as far as to spend her own money on it.</p><p>“How much did you just pay him?” he asked her.</p><p>“Three hundred eddies. That was the bonus. His normal rate is only a hundred.” She sighed, suddenly looking herself up and down. “Now I’ll have to look like a girl with a rich boyfriend. Where did I put my dresses?” she wondered to herself. </p><p>“Well, at least you have the car that would belong to a rich boyfriend.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah. I do,” she reacted, clearly still thinking about her dresses. “Fuck, I think I threw my dresses out. Argh, now I have to buy another,” she murmured to herself, then looked up at him, pointedly ignoring his amused look. “We’re meeting him at 9 sharp, at a bar. Well, I’m meeting him. You’ll just be loitering around.”</p><p>She quickly put everything back to how she found it on the computer, closing all the files she had opened. Then, she took a bottle of water from the counter and splashed the girl with it, intending to wake her up. The girl screamed and tried jumping off the chair, but River held her in place.</p><p>“Easy, there. You just fainted,” he tried calming her. She was shaking.</p><p>“Does this happen to you a lot?” V asked her, getting only a headshake as an answer. “Might’ve been low blood sugar. Eat this, you’ll likely feel better in no time,” she pulled an energy bar out of one of her pockets, handing it to her. The receptionist took it with shaking hands.</p><p>“T-thanks. If you hadn’t been here... Do you still want to see that footage? I... It’s the least I can do.”</p><p>“That won’t be needed,” V told her with a small, kind smile on her face. “You were right. We wouldn’t want you to lose your job over such a thing. We’ll come back when Carlos is here. You take care, now. And eat that,” she all but commanded the girl, who was already tearing it out of the wrappers.</p><p>V nodded at him, and then headed back to the entrance, turning the cameras on again as she walked past. She only spoke again when they were sitting in her car. “I’ll drop you off at your apartment, then I’ll go buy myself a dress. I’ll meet you here,” she was sending him the coordinates, “at 8:30. Works for you?”</p><p>“Yeah, sounds good.”</p><p>“Preem,” she reacted as she revved the engine and rolled out of the parking lot. </p><p>On the way back to his apartment, they discussed their plan, how they would be handling things. They still had nearly two hours until their designated meeting time, so River made sure, that the case files were back in order, perfectly put together and ready to close the case. His apartment suddenly felt awfully empty, with the floor devoid of the crime scene pictures and a mercenary he was quickly growing to like. Ah, who was he kidding? He definitely liked her. </p><p>He packed his trusty gun before he got into his truck and made his way to the bar, that was in the middle of Tyger Claw territory. He had a sinking feeling, that something was about to go horribly wrong. Just hopefully not with V or himself. Two hours was plenty of time to plan an ambush. He was hoping, that the perp had no idea.</p><p>At the exact time they agreed on, she slipped into his truck, uncomfortably fidgeting. His breath caught at the sight of her; wearing an elegant long-sleeved pencil dress with a deep plunging neckline that ended below her tits. It would’ve been rude not to compliment her. She looked beautiful.</p><p>“You cleaned up nicely,” he settled on a not so overly complicated compliment. She looked taken aback for but a moment, before an almost shy smile spread on her lips as she looked herself up and down.</p><p>“Thanks. My rich boyfriend has great taste,” she told him in her fake voice she used earlier, then was already focused on the entrance of the bar, chewing her lower lip. “River, I can’t shake this feeling...”</p><p>“That it was too easy?” She nodded. “Me neither. We’ll have to be extra careful inside. And I doubt that you can hide a gun under your skirt.”</p><p>“Nope. I tried, though. And ripped the other dress open. I liked that one better; it was blue,” she murmured under her nose. </p><p>“Red looks fine, too,” he commented. She was still frowning.</p><p>“Yeah, I guess,” she half-heartedly agreed, then sighed. “I think I should go inside, have a drink or two while I wait.”</p><p>“Are you sure, that’s a good idea?”</p><p>“I can hold my liquor, don’t worry.” He nodded, confident in her abilities and watched as she entered the bar. He called her so that they could be in contact and he can hear what she was talking about.</p><p>She requested a drink almost as soon as she entered, and River waited another five minutes before he went in after her. There were six others inside, all Tygers. Three were playing pool, one was tending the bar and two were watching the game. V was chatting with the bartender when their perp slipped onto the stool next to hers. The pool game stopped that instant and that was enough of a warning to him.</p><p>“Vicky, I’m guessing,” he began. </p><p>“That’s right. And you are Adam. Nice to meet you,” she turned to him. As soon as her eyes were off the bartender, he pulled out a wire, that was usually used for the murders, and quicker than River’s eyes could see, wrapped it around her neck. River instantly got off his ass, with several guns pointing at him that same moment.</p><p>Adam laughed. “V, V, V. And you’re supposed to be a professional. You really thought I wouldn’t recognize one of the best mercs in the city? One that is seen on Jig-Jig Street regularly because of visiting her Fixer? You must think me extremely stupid.”</p><p>“Well, you’re not wrong about that,” she choked out. Her head was already turning way too red for River’s liking, but he couldn’t even move without being gunned down. The man slapped her. She didn’t even flinch. “Come on, Adam, a kid would slap me harder than that,” she teased him, getting another slap in return. She just chuckled.</p><p>“You will not be laughing for long, merc. And your boytoy will watch the life being choked out of you.” He briefly glanced at River, while the others completely surrounded the cop, who couldn’t tear his eyes off the choking woman.</p><p>“Don’t write me off just yet. I still got a few tricks up my sleeves,” she grinned, then Adam collapsed, unconscious. “And you boys all have a hefty bounty on your heads. I aim to collect,” she addressed mainly the bartender behind her. </p><p>Then the sleeves of her dress were torn open as her mantis blades activated, sinking into the man behind her. River took it as a sign and flipped a table at the other goons, while rushing behind the bar to get into cover. A bullet grazed him as he hid, then leant out of the cover to take potshots at the men. To his absolute horror, V stayed in front of the counter, doing who knows what. He couldn’t see her from his position. He couldn’t even see if she was breathing.</p><p>Then one of the goons keeled over, having been shot straight through the head. Then another dropped, and another. By the time he dared peek his head out, they were already dead, with V standing in the middle of the room, blood still dripping off her blades. For the first time since they met, she looked like a predator, a killer. Her posture was elegant, yet stiff and ready to pounce on her next enemy. </p><p>River cursed himself, when the thought “Damn, she’s sexy,” drifted into his mind. Why the fuck did he find her so damned attractive, while she would be able to kill him with a look?</p><p>“River, you okay?” she asked him, croaking as she got rid of the wire that was still wrapped around her neck, soothingly stroking the injury. </p><p>He stood up and approached her, careful not to step into the spreading pool of blood near her. Her blades retreated into her forearms, and she sagged onto the stool, breathing heavily. </p><p>“Fuck, it’s gonna leave a mark,” she croaked, then just gulped down the tequila she ordered. She took her time to let her breath settle, then looked River over. “You’re bleeding,” she told him what he already knew.</p><p>“Just a graze,” he brushed it off. Not that it didn’t hurt. He just... didn’t want to let her know that.</p><p>“You sure?” she asked him as she turned to face him. His face was full of concern, as he saw the three bullet holes on her abdomen. “What?” she asked him, clueless about why he was suddenly in front of her, reaching out towards her stomach, slowly touching her without thinking about what he was doing. “Oh, don’t worry. There’s a bulletproof layer underneath the fabric. I’m fine,” she wasn’t lying. There was no blood on his fingers. “Sorry about the... mess,” she looked around, still massaging her neck. River was so close to joining this motion with his own hand. To caress her skin. Instead, he pulled back from her, following her gaze to the dead guys.</p><p>“Where did you get a gun?”</p><p>“The bartender had one,” she pointed at the empty holster. “What’s gonna happen to them?”</p><p>“With them? Nothing. But him, I’m taking in,” he looked at the unconscious Adam. </p><p>“I’m guessing you can handle it alone?”</p><p>“I actually wouldn’t mind if you accompanied me to the station, in case he wakes up. You can make him go back to sleep easier than I can.”</p><p>“Yeah, sure. I can always call Delamain to give me a ride back here.”</p><p>“Delamain?”</p><p>“Uhum. He’s... sort of a friend? I helped him with... Never mind, story for another time,” she thought better as she hopped off the stool.</p><p>“I’ll hold you to that,” he found himself saying as he picked to KO-d serial killer up. She just smiled at him as a reaction. It wasn’t a definitive agreement, nor was it a refusal. It was enough for him.</p><p>Their ride to the station was uneventful, spent in complete silence. At least until Adam woke up, cuffed on the backseat, and started screaming bloody murder at them. </p><p>“Shh,” V shushed him. “Be a good boy and go back to sleep,” she said as he knocked him out again, speaking as if she was soothing a child. He suddenly wondered if she even liked children.</p><p>He parked near the NCPD’s building, so that she could get out before anyone could question her presence.</p><p>“Thanks for the help, V. Couldn’t have done it without you.”</p><p>“Yeah, you could’ve. Just a little slower,” she replied with a smile on her face.</p><p>“Be careful out there.”</p><p>“No promises.” With that, she slammed the door shut, letting him go to his destination. The only time he looked into the side mirror, she was already gone.</p><p>Maybe one day, they would be able to meet outside of work. But that was just wishful thinking on his part.</p><p>He contacted her a few days later, when the news played a vid about an arrest, but he couldn’t reach her. Only voicemail.</p><p>“Hey, you’ve tried to reach V. I’m probably busy, or, you know, dead already. Buuut, leave me a message after the beep, not this one, the other one and tell me what you need. If it’s work related, send some detes and I’ll see what I can do once I’m able, but if it’s pleasure, I dunno why you’re calling me. I don’t do booty calls, everyone knows that. Anyway, you can start speaking now.”</p><p>He didn’t. He wrote her a message instead. Two days later, there was still no reply. He was beginning to worry about her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 3 is coming soon.<br/>Comments are always appreciated and thank you for the kudos to all of you that left one.<br/>Stay safe out there! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Hunt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Hunt. River asks V for help again, this time to find his missing nephew.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a heads up to everyone, that read the previous chapter early: there was a section of it missing when they first get into the Caliburn. It's all there now, so if you missed it, check it out. ;)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>V</h2>
<p>“Oh, so you finally decided to come back to the land of the living, huh?” Johnny’s voice was the first thing I heard as I awoke, not even knowing where the fuck I was and how long I was out.</p>
<p>I just groaned at him as a reply, slowly sitting up on the bed. My head was pounding and felt close to blowing up. It was even worse than my very first hangover when I was eleven. </p>
<p>“You gotta hurry, V. You don’t have much time left,” he told me as if I didn’t know that. But my allies needed time to get the required information and I intended to spend this day, or what remained of it working to take my mind off my fast approaching, inevitable death. </p>
<p>I still couldn’t come to terms with it. Probably never would.</p>
<p>“Yeah, well, both Mr. Hands and Takemura need time to gather the intel we need. I’m just going to do a few jobs until then. Who knows how much the info will cost me this time...” I told him, holding my head. </p>
<p>Johnny made a disgusted sound. “I hate myself for even suggesting this, but your badge boyfriend called, then sent a message while you were out.” I rolled my eyes and I was about to tell him that River’s not my boyfriend, when he kept going. “He needs your help again, it seems. Finding out what he wants could help take your mind off our problem. Even for a little bit.”</p>
<p>“You didn’t answer the call?”</p>
<p>“Nah. I would’ve only told him to go fuck himself instead of trying to fuck you. I have a feeling you wouldn’t have appreciated that.”</p>
<p>“Like I appreciate the tattoo? Seriously, Johnny? A heart with our names in it? You’re acting like you’re smitten with me.” I stared at it. It was simple, just an outline of a heart. And it wasn’t staying there for long.</p>
<p>“Well, I’m already inside you… I’m closer with you than the badge’s ever going to be.”</p>
<p>“Ugh, you can be so insufferable,” I groaned and decided to call River. He picked up after the second ring. “Hey,” I began. “Sorry for not reacting sooner. I was... indisposed.”</p>
<p>“Are you alright? You sound like you’re in pain,” he immediately pointed it out. There was no use in lying to him.</p>
<p>“Yeah, tough couple of days. I’ve been better. But I can help you if you need it.”</p>
<p>“Are you sure? I don’t want to...”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” I interrupted him. “I need to take my mind off certain things. Is it about another case of yours?”</p>
<p>“No, no it is not,” he answered, his voice weak and impossibly soft. “I’m sending you an address. Can you meet me there later today?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’ll be there.” </p>
<p>“Thanks, V. See you then.”</p>
<p>He ended the call, and I was left with more questions than before. He sounded troubled, but he said it’s not work-related, so it couldn’t have been another murderer on the loose, or something like that. It must’ve been very personal if he didn’t feel confident discussing it over the phone. Did he get himself into trouble somehow? </p>
<p>If it was anyone else inviting me to a mysterious place in the evening, I’d fear for my life, that they’d be luring me out there to murder my ass. But this was River, who happened to be one of the nicest people I know. What could he have gotten himself into?</p>
<p>“You better start riding if you want to get there in time,” I heard Johnny’s voice. </p>
<p>For once, he was right, so I put my clothes on – when did I get naked? - and pulled myself together, heading downstairs to Jackie’s bike. I bought some coffee for myself from the nearby vending machine, drank it all in one large gulp, then hopped on and headed for the meeting place.</p>
<p>I got there a few minutes before he did, so I sat down on the nearby bench to wait. I presumed, that he’d want me to get in his truck, so as soon as he honked, I was up and sitting next to him in a few seconds. If I thought he looked exhausted the first time we met, that was nothing compared to how he looked the moment he turned to me. I spotted many emotions in his eye, worry and concern being the most prominent of them all. Even his voice was weak as he greeted me.</p>
<p>He wouldn’t give me an answer as to what ailed him until I watched a video. He told me it wasn’t work related and confirmed it when he said, that this… Peter Pan case wasn’t one of his. But the dead kid on the vid was wearing his disappeared nephew’s shoes. The oldest of the ones I saw on his family picture. </p>
<p>Fuck. No wonder he looked like shit. That was a vid that was released days ago. He called me days ago. Only I was too busy trying not to die.</p>
<p>Fuck!</p>
<p>Naturally, I agreed to help him. I couldn’t bear looking at him when all I saw was sadness and hopelessness on his face. At least the hopelessness became hopefulness when I agreed to help. He even gave me a small smile before he began detailing the reason we were to meet at that exact spot.</p>
<p>Turned out, the NCPD owned a nearby building, where they researched and experimented with viewing people’s dreams as braindance footage. It was an intriguing concept, I was already excited to explore their labs, hoping that maybe I would even learn something new. Even though I doubted River would actually let me snoop around files that had nothing to do with the vegetable in the hospital.</p>
<p>He was acting extremely shady, as he stopped near the entrance, turning to me. Of course, he wasn’t allowed in there. He needed me to get him in. He was lucky that I was smart enough to unlock the back-alley’s door and let us in. He was keeping watch as I worked and I stole a few glances at him, nearly laughing at the ridiculous sight. He was standing at the end of the alley with a puffed-up chest and straight back. I presumed, that he was trying to look intimidating enough so that people would give him a wide berth, but he just looked silly. I whistled to him when I was done, and entered the building, carefully crouching. </p>
<p>I didn’t know whether we should expect any cameras around, but River must’ve known there were none, because he just strolled right past me to investigate. Only then he told me, that we wouldn’t run into anyone because of an audit. Despite this, I kept sneaking until I reached the end of the hallway. There were still no cameras around, no forms of security. Lousy place. It belongs to the NCPD and they don’t even bother to secure it… Argh, badges. Not the brightest bulbs around.</p>
<p>I was standing soon enough, entering whatever room I could enter. I found plenty of info regarding what they were researching there, some even spoke about an AH, who I presumed was our perp, Anthony Harris himself. Still, unfortunately, I didn’t learn much from these, nor did River of his own round he made. One of the rooms was locked, only opened by an authorization code, which neither of us, nor the rooms we checked had, so as a last option, we checked the other room. </p>
<p>As soon as the door opened, I knew we were in the right place. It was decorated as a child’s room, full of toys and drawings to comfort the children. Or the adult, that was kidnapping kids for his own sick pleasure. I found the needed files and was about to show those to River, when a voice startled both of us. I was surprised to hear, that River knew her, but maybe I shouldn’t have been. He had to have learnt of this place and what they were researching from someone. Might’ve even been this Yawen.</p>
<p>Their relationship seemed rocky, at best, as they were throwing accusations at each other, ready to spill the secrets of the other, right there and then. I was actually glad for this; at least I learnt that River got booted off the force. Probably the mayor’s case catching up with him. I’d pull the reason out of him once we were out of there. First, we needed to convince Yawen to help us and damn, River’s furious tone did the trick. For a second, I didn’t even recognize him. So full of anger. Not at all like the man I knew.</p>
<p>Yawen did cave in and told us that she wouldn’t be able to help with Harris’ dreams, because he wasn’t dreaming. His brain was too damaged for that. Still, River got the insane idea, that we had to make the guy dream. I was starting to think common sense was beginning to escape him, but he was so determined, so adamant on finding Randy, that I didn’t comment, just followed him outside. </p>
<p>At the door, Johnny was smoking his imaginary cigarette, telling me what he had already told me a few times before. That River wanted in my pants. I… didn’t actually mind that idea. For one night, it could definitely work. After we found his nephew.</p>
<p>And I absolutely didn’t care about what Johnny thought about the situation. He went on a date with Rogue, obviously wanting to fuck her. When he doesn’t even have a dick to fuck her with! The least he could do was shut up when I was thinking about having sex with someone every once in a while. Who knew, it might be the last chance I ever get to have sex, with how fast my health was deteriorating. And once Johnny took over… I would cease to exist. </p>
<p>But was River the perfect guy for that? He had struck me as a family man. The whole white picket fence kind. That’s something I would not be able to give him. Not in the approximately one week I had left. Maybe if I managed to save myself? Maybe.</p>
<p>Then again, I might’ve been completely wrong about him. Maybe Johnny was wrong about the glances he stole at me and how frequently he did so. Maybe I was just imagining things. Probably.</p>
<p>Honestly? That would’ve been the best. If it was just Johnny trying to fuck with me, to make me believe there was something building between River and I, when in reality, there was nothing, just my imagination. The man had enough problems of his own, he didn’t need to learn and worry about my condition. If he did… why would he even want to be with someone, that will die in about a week? </p>
<p>Maybe I oughta tell him, let him decide if this friendship, or whatever else to call it, was worth his time and effort. </p>
<p>After we found his nephew. Only after that.</p>
<p>I got back into his truck not long after he did, and just turned to him, wordlessly staring as he tightened his jaw and gripped the steering wheel tight enough I thought it would snap. He soon let out a defeated sigh and turned to me, obviously ready for me to tell him off, or scold him for hiding that he got suspended. I didn’t hold it against him. It changed nothing, really. I didn’t care whether he was a badge or not. He was still River. Still the same man with or without a badge to flaunt.</p>
<p>A man, that was taking me to meet his family after knowing me for little over two weeks, having met only twice before. Granted, his reason was the investigation itself, yet it still felt more than a little weird to me.</p>
<p>I asked him a few questions about his family, namely the disappeared boy Randy himself. Turned out to be a troubled kid with a rebellious, criminal nature. I had a feeling River felt like he failed with the kid, seeing how Randy had problems with the law. With what River stood for and tried to uphold. It really couldn’t have been easy for either of them. It especially couldn’t have been easy for Joss, who was left to raise three kids on her own after her husband’s death. </p>
<p>I was hoping that we would find something regarding Harris among Randy’s stuff. We had practically nothing so far. It wasn’t looking good. But I wasn’t going to tell River that. He knew it already.</p>
<p>We were stopped at a red light, when I caught him staring at me again. He did that a lot, when he thought I wouldn’t notice. Did he like what he was seeing that much?</p>
<p>“V… Are you feeling alright? You are paler than usual.” Ah, so that’s why he was staring. Makes sense.</p>
<p>“Am I? I hadn’t noticed,” I quickly checked, but saw no difference. “Hm, no. I don’t think I’m paler than usual.”</p>
<p>“V,” he said with a tone, that told me he wasn’t satisfied with this answer. </p>
<p>I sighed. “I’ve been better, but don’t worry about me. I’m fine,” I lied. “Just exhausted.”</p>
<p>Johnny immediately materialized on the backseat, smoking, as usual. “<em>Awww, isn’t he adorable, worrying about you and all that? Just shoot me already and be done with it. For once, I’m lucky and I don’t have a stomach so I can’t throw up.</em>” He pushed a finger down his throat, fake gagging immediately. I tried not to roll my eyes. River was still watching me.</p>
<p>“Tough days?”</p>
<p>“You have no idea,” I answered. </p>
<p>“Then tell me after we’ve found Randy. You’ve already agreed to have a beer with me, so you might as well tell me what’s got you so exhausted. Is it still about that life you’re trying to save?”</p>
<p>“Yep,” I gave him the short answer. He was still so hung up this small info I let slip, even after two weeks. Why?</p>
<p>“How’s it going so far?”</p>
<p>“Well, I’m…doing what I can. But it could be better. Could be worse, too. Time’s almost up.”</p>
<p>“Is there anything I can do to help? I owe you. Twofold, by now.” He was certainly one of a kind. </p>
<p>I knew, that I would never actually have the time to collect on these favors, so I might as well nullify them. “You don’t owe me a thing, River. Besides, we haven’t found Randy yet.”</p>
<p>He scoffed. “I didn’t think I would catch the Strangler in one afternoon with your help, but I did. Your reputation is high for a reason, V. I think we will get him soon.”</p>
<p>“We’ll do our best,” I agreed. “What about the Strangler, though? I’ve been thinking about that case for a bit after you arrested Adam. How did he get that involved with the Tygers? Did you learn anything else from him?”</p>
<p>He scoffed. “Turns out, the bartender was the killer and not the joytoy. Adam was just the colorful lure, who didn’t have much of a choice at the beginning, having been practically bought by one of the head Tygers, the bartender himself. He was the jealous type, wanting Adam just for himself.”</p>
<p>“Aaand I killed him. Oops.”</p>
<p>River didn’t seem to mind my utterly unapologetic tone, if the slight curve of his lips was any indication. “Don’t sweat it. Adam’s behind the bars, having been an accessory for murder and he’s not getting out anytime soon. We got everyone that was involved. And if we didn’t…” he shrugged suddenly, “well, it’s not like I can do a thing while I’m suspended.”</p>
<p>“How long are you gonna be suspended?”</p>
<p>“Dunno.” He didn’t sound too hopeful. “To be honest, V, I’m not sure they’re giving my badge back. I’m likely to put my nose in places it doesn’t belong, and the corrupt top brass is painfully aware of it. They don’t need people like me around, people that actually ask questions and try to do an honest job, protecting the innocent, and all that.”</p>
<p>I was suddenly reminded of a rescue job I had to do for the Capitan. That asylum still haunted me, the sight in those locked rooms. So terrible.</p>
<p>“Get out while you can, River. It’s not worth your own health and well-being,” I told him. He just looked at me with furrowed brows, so I decided to explain myself. “The day after I helped you with the case, I was contacted by a Fixer. I needed to get someone out of an asylum. That someone turned out to be a cop, who asked the right questions from the wrong people, who had her committed and I’m pretty sure tortured in that place. You don’t want to be in her shoes, trust me on that.”</p>
<p>“A cop? Do you know her name?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I do. But I’m not gonna tell you. Some confidentiality is expected of me, River, even after I’d already finished the gig.”</p>
<p>For a second, his jaw tightened in annoyance, but he quickly saw reason and nodded his understanding. “That’s probably for the best you don’t tell me. I already have too much on my plate.”</p>
<p>“Indeed, you do,” I agreed. He just sighed. </p>
<p>We stayed in silence until we caught the next red light.</p>
<p>“What will you do after you’ve saved that life? What’s next for V?” he suddenly asked me. He really, really wanted to pull it out of me, didn’t he? Stubborn son of a bitch.</p>
<p>I shrugged. “I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, I guess. Only a lot freer and happier. If they can be saved,” I added as an afterthought. </p>
<p>For once, I wasn’t talking only about myself. I had been thinking a lot about this situation. About Johnny, about how maybe, just maybe, he deserved a second chance. To do better. Because he could do better. He’d shown that he can. His worry, when my condition gets worse is real. He’s still a dick and a general pain in the ass, but maybe he would deserve another chance. To right his wrongs, so to speak.</p>
<p>Maybe… There are so many braindead people in the hospitals. So many, who are left in a vegetative state, who would never wake without a miracle. What if… What if we got separated and the biochip was given to one of them? Sure, it would be theft, and absolutely invasive, but those people are already dead. Gone. Nothing would bring them back. Nothing, but Arasaka’s famed Relic. </p>
<p>“They?” River’s quiet question brought me back to the truck and the conversation we were having.</p>
<p>“It’s… it’s complicated. I would need more time to explain it, than what we have available. And a lot more booze.”</p>
<p>“It’s really doing a number on you, huh?”</p>
<p>It was time for me to snort. “What gave that away?”</p>
<p>“Mostly the attitude,” he gave me a cheeky grin. I just narrowed my eyes at him. I remembered telling him that exact line on our previous case. I was sooo close to just shoot my tongue out at him like a child. His grin widened, seeing my expression. </p>
<p>“Throwing my own line back at me,” I murmured as I slowly shook my head, smiling. </p>
<p>“At least you’re smiling,” he commented as we slowly approached the edge of the city.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s a rare sight nowadays. Enjoy it while you can.” </p>
<p><em>‘Cause you’ll likely never see me again after we found your nephew</em>, I didn’t say. It felt like I should tell him, though. The more and more we interacted, the less I wanted to keep him in the dark. Fuck.</p>
<p>“And there goes the smile,” he noticed, murmuring under his nose, glancing my way. “Do you want me to tell a few stupid jokes, or…”</p>
<p>“No,” I told him, shaking my head. “Just get us to your sister’s place.”</p>
<p>“Silence it is, then.”</p>
<p>And he kept himself to his word, staying silent until we rolled into the trailer park just on the outskirts of the city. Honestly, it was not the place I expected to find his sister’s home at. But people live where they can. At least this area was quiet, away from the noise of the city. I suddenly felt homesick. There wasn’t a day I didn’t want to leave it all behind and go back to roaming the country. I missed the freedom, the solitude of it all. </p>
<p>I was surprised to hear, however, that River and Joss didn’t get along so well. I expected them to, seeing the picture on the wall of his living-room. I had a feeling they were the only family he had left, and he obviously loved them with all his heart. Why didn’t they get along, then?</p>
<p>I followed River to the trailer at the end of the yard, taking a good look around. I wasn’t the only one, only Johnny didn’t care about voicing his opinion about it all, as he materialized on the stairs, staring at us approach, making a dickish comment, as per usual. At the bottom of the stairs, River stopped for all but a moment, took a deep breath, exhaled, and continued towards the entrance. </p>
<p>He obviously knew where he was going, since he hightailed it right over to the kitchen without looking into any of the other rooms. Joss was leaning on the counter, only pushing herself away from it when she spotted her brother. She was obviously surprised to see him. It really must’ve been a while since he visited them. I nodded at her as we were introduced, mirroring her reaction. I decided to let River do the talking.</p>
<p>And despite telling me not to mention the kidnapping, it was almost the first thing he told her. I just stared at him, dumbfounded, blinking for a few seconds. Then decided to get straight to business. Joss didn’t need to know the nasty details about the man that kidnapped her son. As expected, she was reluctant to let us investigate Randy’s trailer, but didn’t need much convincing. </p>
<p>My partner could no doubt see the face I was making, so he asked me what I was thinking about as we were heading back outside. I was at a loss for words for a second. I was thinking about so many things, mostly the type of women in his life. I knew two, and they both had strong, but still unique characteristics. Well, three, if I counted myself among those women. I must’ve been the weirdest, though. By a mile.</p>
<p>He didn’t get to ask me why I answered what I answered, because our walk to the trailer next door was interrupted by his small niece and nephew, who were excited as ever to see their uncle. It was nice to hear the affection in River’s voice as he stopped and greeted them both, individually, before he crouched down to be on their level, and hugged them tightly. The sight was adorable. </p>
<p>And, of course, they end up being as nosy as their uncle, whose bronze skin might’ve become a little redder on the cheeks as he told them that I wasn’t his girlfriend. The kids both let out sighs of disappointment, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek not to laugh. Both at River’s red face, and the slight crack in his voice as he answered. The children didn’t feel like leaving him alone, though, and followed him to the trailer, only leaving when they were told to go eat dinner. I decided not to comment as I entered the trailer behind him. </p>
<p>I was already analyzing everything I was seeing, and found out Randy had a love for dark and gritty music. Tainted Overlord, the vinyl showed. I was tempted to put on the vinyl that was already in the player, but investigation came first. </p>
<p>Turned out I was right, when I categorized River as a family man, through and through. He bought them the bigger trailer, for crying out loud. With his own, hard earned money. Selflessness like that was a rarity in 2077, that I could hardly find even if I went looking for it, especially in NC.</p>
<p>I gave him a warm smile he couldn’t see. He really was a good man. The woman he’d end up marrying would be a lucky one.</p>
<p>“<em>Too bad it will never be you, huh, V?</em>” I heard Johnny’s intrusive voice. For once, he didn’t sound like a jerkass. I just grunted, putting some distance between River and myself, entering Randy’s bedroom, scanning every inch of it. Of course, he heard all my inner thoughts. I didn’t need a reminder of my approaching death, though. “<em>I know, that you’re jealous. There’s no other woman in sight for him, and you’re already jealous.</em>”</p>
<p>“<em>I’m jealous of the connection and relationship they could have, Johnny. Not the woman herself. I’m jealous, because unlike them, I’m likely never going to experience love and family life again.</em>”</p>
<p>“<em>We’re working on it, V. Don’t write yourself off just yet.</em>”</p>
<p>“<em>Really, man? Really? You know damned well that I’m gonna kick the bucket within a week. Not exactly enough time for anything.</em>”</p>
<p>“V?” River’s voice pulled me out of the conversation. I guess, he saw my probably annoyed face. </p>
<p>“I found a locked drawer. Must be really important, whatever’s in there,” I told him. </p>
<p>“<em>Or it’s just the kid’s hidden porn BD stash. Doubt your boyfriend would want to learn the kinks of his dear nephew.</em>”</p>
<p>“<em>Argh, for once, please, shut up, Johnny! Let us investigate in peace.</em>”</p>
<p>“Might not be. It might be… personal.”</p>
<p>I just gave him a look and rolled my eyes. “I’ll find the key and look in there. You don’t have to, if you don’t want to learn the darkest secrets of the boy.”</p>
<p>He cleared his throat. “Right. That works, too. Have you found anything else?”</p>
<p>I pointed to the laptop hidden underneath the bed, asking if Randy even had the money to buy himself a computer like that. River was more than surprised, so I guessed the answer was no. The kid had the brains to at least put a password on the thing. While River tried guessing the password, I wandered into the kitchen, looking into jars, utensil drawers, then finally found the key in plain sight, on the lowest shelf. It was as antique as the drawer itself, so I immediately knew that it was the right one. </p>
<p>My friend was still doing his best trying to guess the right phrase as I opened the drawer and found a game and nothing else inside. It was shipped from the Badlands. Might’ve been a gift from someone or he bought it used, off someone that didn’t need it anymore. I gave River a knowing smile when I turned back to him, knowing that he edged closer, peeking over my shoulder to see the contents of the drawer. He was instantly back at the laptop, as if he hadn't moved an inch from there. I just rolled my eyes and gently pushed him out of the way to be allowed to crack it. I was done in no time. </p>
<p>The next second, River was pulling the chair back for me to sit on. I smiled to myself when I was already sitting. What a gentleman. A rare find, indeed.</p>
<p>Then he was looming over me, with his chin nearly resting on top of my head. He was close enough, that I could feel the heat radiating off his body. How he handled that warm coat during such a hot day, I had no idea. Even I decided to ditch my jacket the moment I set foot outside the apartment where Johnny relinquished control back to me. And it was a rare occasion, since I needed the pockets for the pistol ammo for my revolver. </p>
<p>Together, we went through the messages. I could feel my stomach churning at the sight of some of those. Harris proved to be as sick as I expected him to be, but that didn’t make reading their communication easier. I couldn’t imagine how sick River must’ve been feeling. </p>
<p>The website was easily found, so was the hidden one. It’s just one huge grooming site Harris had, targeting kids who were feeling lost in life. Sick bastard. I was hoping he’d never wake up. </p>
<p>It turned out that Randy could be smart when he wanted to be, pulling a video from the site that was already gone by the time we visited. It was a cartoon, made a very long time ago. Its music annoyed the fuck out of me, so I muted it as soon as I had the chance. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to get more out of the info that was on the website, nor the laptop, so I turned to River, who was already standing by the door with his arms crossed above his chest. I pointed it out to him, that he just mentioned this being what we needed to get the vegetable to dream. He immediately sent it to his friend, pacing, then smiled to himself. Yawen just called him a son of a bitch, and I imagine a series of other things he decided not to relay to me. </p>
<p>Having done what we could, we made our way back to the main trailer, where the kids and their mom were having dinner, with the little ones bickering over something as we entered. Joss was quick on the uptake and decided to send them to bed to let us adults discuss everything in peace. We assured her, that we would know more in the morning. I seriously considered not accepting River’s invitation to stay in Randy’s trailer for the night; it felt… It just felt wrong, like I was intruding on people I barely knew. Which was exactly the case. But I knew, that Yawen might have something for us soon, so it was still the best option.</p>
<p>So, I accepted the invitation, then had a little chat with Joss when River decided to turn in early. I learnt of her husband’s death with the Aldecaldos and decided to ask them about it the next time I visited their camp. Because let’s be real. There wasn’t a day, that nothing happened at that camp. It was like… they attracted trouble like a magnet. And they sometimes made extremely stupid decisions. My kind of people. In more ways than one.</p>
<p>I went outside after some encouraging words to Joss, and headed straight for the trailer. I decided to give in to the craving Johnny had and lit a cigarette as I sat down on the stairs and replied to some texts I ignored previously, then called a few people about a few jobs they were offering me. I was immediately showered with seven new gigs of the various kind.</p>
<p>“Didn’t know you smoked,” I heard River’s voice from my right. He was leaning against the nearby wooden column. I was so busy with work, I didn’t even realize, that he was standing there. It was not like me.</p>
<p>I blew out some smoke. “I don’t.”</p>
<p>“You know, I’m beginning to think, that you are a terrible liar, V,” he reacted, and I chuckled, turned to him and blew some smoke at him after I took another drag. He waved the smoke out of his face, less than impressed.</p>
<p>“It’s a long story, that we don’t have time for,” I told him as I put the cig out and stood up. He was looking at me like he wasn’t done with the conversation just yet. “What?”</p>
<p>“Are you seriously considering all those jobs tomorrow? You spoke to seven people just now.” He sounded concerned. My heart would’ve melted, had he not pissed me off.</p>
<p>“River, do me a favor, and stay out of my work,” I said, perhaps more annoyed than I should’ve been. “Why are you even listening in to my conversations?”</p>
<p>He suddenly gave me a stern look. “Just looking out for you.”</p>
<p>“Looking out for me? River, you have no idea what it’s like to live with…” I almost said it. I almost just blurted it out to him. I was furious. I tightened my jaw before I spoke. “I need to busy myself before I lose myself.” It was already more than I wanted to tell him.</p>
<p>“No, V. You need to rest.”</p>
<p>“Just what the fuck do you think I’m going to do soon enough?” I asked him, looking back at the trailer.</p>
<p>“Honestly, I thought you were about to bolt, with how you hesitated before agreeing to stay for the night,” he observed correctly. “And it wasn’t what I meant about resting. Not just one night. When was the last day when you did nothing but stayed home, doing nothing in particular?”</p>
<p>I scoffed. “I don’t have time to rest.”</p>
<p>“Why not? Surely, the jobs can wait.”</p>
<p>I suddenly decided, that I had enough about this conversation for the night and just turned around, not giving him an answer. He wasn’t done, as it became apparent when his fingers closed around my upper arm. </p>
<p>“Let go, River,” I asked him nicely, sounding weaker than I intended to. The anger was gone as suddenly as it came, and I was left with the headache that signaled another Relic malfunction coming. I didn’t want him to witness it. </p>
<p>“V…”</p>
<p>“Let me go,” I chose my words, hoping to get another message through. Nothing was gonna happen between us, no matter how much he would’ve wanted it to. Or I would’ve. “Please. I’d like to get some sleep at least tonight.” That did the trick, as the cold cybernetic fingers retreated, slowly, almost caressing the skin. “Good night, River.”</p>
<p>“Good night,” I heard him say not long before the door closed behind me. I was in the bed in the next minute.</p>
<p>I slept about as good as I had in the last few weeks. Barely and really, really uncomfortably. It felt like I didn’t get any rest when a large hand shook my shoulder, shaking me awake. I let out a weak, useless protest before River’s excited voice greeted me, babbling about Harris dreaming. I barely opened my eyes, and he was shoving a data shard into my palm, then approaching Randy’s laptop. I just blinked at the man for a few seconds, then at the shard and commented on how quickly Yawen worked, impressed by her capabilities, as I slid the shard into the BD wreath I carried. </p>
<p>I immediately found myself in Harris’ dream, that must’ve actually been a memory of his, from his early school days. He was sitting in a cafeteria, getting scolded by his teacher. Damn, he was fucked-up even as a child. It’s kind of sad, though.</p>
<p>Since River was seeing all the information I was seeing, he could easily find the location of the school, that was mentioned on the bulletin board. Laguna Bend. Same one Judy grew up in. I wondered, if she knew the guy. Too bad she was already out of the city. </p>
<p>I doubted she could’ve given us anything valuable even if she wasn’t, though. She’s younger than Harris.</p>
<p>The next memory was on their family farm, where he seemed even younger. That stupid cartoon was blaring across the barn, and honestly, I agreed with his father that it should just be shut off. There was no need to yell at the poor boy, though. What a terrible man, treating his child like that. No wonder he ended up the way he did. That didn’t excuse his actions, though. Not at all.</p>
<p>The third memory was finally something more recent, with Harris being around his current age. And still blasting that damned cartoon, as if it was the only anchor he’d ever had in his life. The farm was the same as the previous memory, only with a few additions. Namely the turrets guarding the place, and the unconscious boys laying there completely defenseless, being ingested with various substances, like common cattle. Sick son of a bitch. </p>
<p>With a few more clues, including the cityscape in the distance, we were able to gather enough intel to be able to locate him. I remembered that day well, when Watson was blockaded off. I was returning from a job with Jackie, and with some help from me, he managed to charm our way through the blockade. Oh, Jackie… If you could see me now, in my miserable state…</p>
<p>I exited the braindance and spent the next few minutes going through what we had learnt with River. He was pacing for a while, then stopped right next to me with his arms crossed above his chest. I had to crane my neck up to look at him, and it was beginning to hurt. But that might’ve only been because that bed was very uncomfortable. They really need to get Randy a better one. If we find him alive.</p>
<p>We had a possible location, then were rolling within a minute, with River being angry and anxious behind the wheel, clearly blaming himself for Randy’s past actions. He was wondering if this would’ve happened, had he been a better uncle. He did his best. He couldn’t give his own autonomy, his own life up for someone else’s children, despite them being family. No one should’ve put that much pressure on him. No wonder he was single, without children of his own. It really felt like he already had three.</p>
<p>I consoled him the best I could, but I knew, that he would only feel better if we found his nephew. And boy, was he in a hurry… And he called my driving style maniacal… There were several turns, where I thought the truck would flip and do a few barrel rolls, with us in it. I wouldn’t have needed that experience in my life, that’s for sure. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, we were at the farm soon enough, with River nearly killing us, driving through the gate like that. The whole yard was a minefield. If Harris put only one mine in front of the gate, we would’ve died right there.</p>
<p>I jumped out of the truck, immediately disabling the nearby turrets, and turned to River, who was already right next to me, starting towards the barn. </p>
<p>“You could’ve fucking killed us, you realize that, right?” I asked him, whispering and snarling at the same time, as I grabbed his arm to hold him back before he got himself blown to pieces by storming off. “By sheer luck, there were no mines near the gates to blow us up, but there are plenty over there.”</p>
<p>“Mines?” he whispered back. I rolled my eyes.</p>
<p>“What exactly is that cybernetic eye good for, if it can’t even spot the mines strewn about?” I asked him.</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m sorry, that not everyone has the eddies for the high-tech stuff,” he matched my tone, making me note to leave him some money before I die. Won’t be needing money where I go, will I? Well, Johnny will, but fuck him. This guy needs it more. I’d arrange something with Vik to get him something better.</p>
<p>I grunted, pushing him behind me. “Stay behind me. I’ll deactivate them as we get closer.”</p>
<p>“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed. As soon as he did, I let go of his arm, expecting him to do as asked, but honestly, not as efficiently as he ended up doing. I could practically feel his breath on the back of my neck, he was that close. It was quite distracting. I couldn’t remember the last time I let someone that close without ending up killing them. Or having sex with them, for that matter.</p>
<p>We slowly inched closer to the entrance, and I deactivated both turrets before those could’ve spotted us. The front door of the barn was tightly locked, so I looked for another way in, still keeping my eyes peeled for mines. There was a ladder nearby, that I climbed to get to the roof. As suspected, there was an opening there, just waiting for us to enter the building through. River followed suit, and was left just as speechless as I was. This place was even more gruesome in person. And there were still some young boys hooked up to the machines. Shit. </p>
<p>We quickly split up after jumping off. I checked the nearest to the entrance, as River made his way over to the other side, almost immediately finding his nephew. The boy I investigated was still breathing, but I couldn’t get the tube off him without shutting the machine down. I was already on my way to the control room when River called the NCPD to inform them of what we found. He sounded mildly panicked, as was expected. </p>
<p>I quickly shut the machines down and while River tried to get Randy free, I hurried back to the boy at the end, freeing him and immediately trying to soothe his nerves, assuring him, that help’s on the way. One of the other two had already died days ago, so I didn’t even bother setting him free and instead approached the last of them, freeing him, too, just as River desperately called out to me. He needed help setting Randy free. </p>
<p>I was by their side the next moment, helping River lift the metal bar that held the boy in place. Even the two of us, we barely managed to lift it on the third try, but as soon as we did, I pulled the tube out of Randy’s face, letting him breathe freely, as I also took that mask off him and lifted his head to let him cough. His eyes fluttered up at me, his eyelids almost shut, before he weakly sagged back against the metal slab he was laying on. </p>
<p>I chanced a look at River, who was almost shaking, the worry and desperation finally left him as he leant against the metal fence behind him. I had a feeling that was the only thing keeping him from collapsing right there. For the first time since I had known him, he looked completely relieved, as he gave me a warm smile and nodded his thanks. I returned the smile, then gave my attention back to Randy, who was trying to talk. </p>
<p>I comfortingly touched his cheeks, trying to calm him down. “Shh. Easy, there, Randy. You’re safe. Your uncle River’s here. We got you. Stay calm, okay? Medical help’s on the way.” The boy’s chest was heaving until he heard River’s name. Then he visibly relaxed and weakly nodded. “Take my place,” I told my friend, who was already approaching, steadier than expected and put a supporting hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “I’ll tend to the other two.”</p>
<p>“Two? There’s th… oh,” he figured it out mid-sentence. “Damn,” he added as he noticed that the nearest of the three wasn’t breathing. </p>
<p>I sighed. “Yeah. But we got three out of four. That’s not so bad. Would be better if all of them lived, but… It’s not our fault. He’s been dead for days now,” I dropped my voice. The kid near us didn’t need to hear the gruesome details.</p>
<p>I comfortingly patted my friend on the shoulder before I moved around him, ready to finally get the others. I was held back by a hand closing around my wrist, and I was yanked back against a muscular chest, wrapped into a warm hug. I melted against him soon enough, as I hugged back. I didn’t even remember the last time someone gave me a hug. </p>
<p>We stayed like that for a quiet minute, his hands on my back, before I remembered the other two boys. “River, this is comfy, but the other boys are still stuck on their slabs,” I reminded him and he instantly all but pushed me away from himself. I already missed the warmth.</p>
<p>“Right. I’ll stay here with Randy, then,” he agreed as he turned back to whisper encouraging thoughts to his nephew.</p>
<p>I hurried to the other two, setting them free. “Hey, hey, slow down,” I told the nearest as he already wanted to bolt and get off the slab, even though he could barely keep his eyes open. I pushed him down firmly, but gently. “It’s okay, medical help’s on the way. He cannot hurt you anymore. You’re safe.”</p>
<p>“W-who...” he tried to ask who I was, at least I presumed.</p>
<p>“Name’s V. But now, do me a favor, kid and just lay back down to rest. There’s still another boy I need to free.”</p>
<p>He weakly nodded, his eyes already slipping closed. He was so weak. They all were. It would take them weeks to recover. “T-thanks, V,” he told me. I just gently tapped on his forearm to acknowledge it, then was off to the last boy.</p>
<p>He was even weaker than Randy and the other combined, he wasn’t even conscious as I pulled the tube and took the mask off him. His breath was shallow, his pulse low. He would’ve died soon if we hadn’t shown up when we did. I stayed with him for a while, also letting him know who I was, and that help was there soon. I didn’t know, if he even heard me, but I kept talking in a soothing, calming tone in case he did. </p>
<p>I stayed with the last boy, too, as I freed him and quietly mourned him. I didn’t even know his name. But dying this young, with so much left to live for… It was an all too familiar situation. At least his family would get the closure they needed. Not much of a relief, but it’s something. Certainly better than the dread they must’ve been feeling in the last few weeks.</p>
<p>It wasn’t long before I heard the Trauma Team’s AVs approach. Those had a typical sound that was unique enough to be recognizable. I unlocked the entrance of the barn from the inside, then quickly made my way around the vicinity of the entryway to disarm all visible mines. I really didn’t want any of them to get blown to bits. Even though River brought it to their attention when he called it in. I started wildly flailing my arms as I spotted the first vehicle, letting them know, that they were in the right place. Both landed nearby, with the medics instantly hopping out of the vehicle. One approached me.</p>
<p>“Where are the hurt?” he asked me without any sort of greeting. Straight to business, then. Worked for me.</p>
<p>“In the barn. Three alive, one’s been dead for a few days. My partner’s inside by his nephew’s side,” I explained it quickly to him. The others were already running past me. I knew how efficiently and ruthlessly they operated, so I saw it best to stay out of their way. </p>
<p>River did, too, as he was outside, next to me in a minute. I was sitting on a nearby crate, watching the approaching patrol cars get closer and closer. The police were quick, too, when one of their own called them. </p>
<p>He sighed deeply as he put all his weight on the crate, leaning against it, then briefly against me. “I can’t believe it’s finally over,” he breathed out, clear relief filling his voice. “For weeks, I worried, I obsessed over trying to find him. And you found him in less than a day,” he suddenly looked up at me. His gaze was… I didn’t want to believe, that I saw adoration in it, because that was the last thing he needed to feel towards me. </p>
<p>I gave him a warm smile. “River, I practically did nothing you couldn’t have done. You didn’t need me for this. Yawen, though. You should definitely be thanking her. She gave us the biggest leads we got. She deserves a freaking medal for it. Or at least a bottle of beer.”</p>
<p>He chuckled. It was a tired sound. “She’ll get it, don’t worry. And I already called her to thank her. You, on the other hand… I don’t know how to thank. There aren’t words, that could express the gratitude I’m feeling right now.”</p>
<p>“River, you just said them,” I commented as I placed a hand on his shoulder. </p>
<p>“Yeah, I guess I did,” he reacted as he reached up to my hand and took it gently. It was a small gesture, but it said enough. I didn’t pull away, despite wanting to. I wasn’t used to casual touches like that, but I really liked it. It was simple. Casual. Meaningful. He soon turned away from me, staring at the Trauma Team as they slowly loaded their vehicles with the abused boys. “Listen, V, I’ve been thinking, that maybe, we could…” he didn’t finish the thought as his colleagues just showed up to investigate the scene. He made an almost annoyed sound as he let go of my hand and pushed himself away from the crate. </p>
<p>I let him handle it all on his own; he was better equipped to deal with police procedures than I was. He only came back to me once, to bring me a warm cup of coffee, then he was off again, disappearing into the barn first, then speaking to the officers again. The first Trauma vehicle was already lifting off when he took his place next to me again, staring at the flying vehicle. </p>
<p>Then he promptly told me what he was planning to do with Harris for nearly killing his nephew. I was upset, that the thought even crossed his mind. I might’ve been a bad influence on him, with how easily he came up with the idea to murder the already pretty much dead guy. I told him, that his family would need him now more than they ever needed him, so he better pull himself together instead of playing judge, jury, and executioner in the same person. He gave a thoughtful nod and his thanks before he joined his nephew and the Trauma Team to the hospital, leaving me sitting on the crate, all by my lonesome. </p>
<p>I barely finished my coffee, and the headache was back, the Relic’s malfunction blurring my vision almost completely. Still, I dragged myself to the side of the road and called the Caliburn to my location. It would take it minutes to get to me, but that was fine. I could wait.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading and thank you to all that left kudos! ^_^<br/>Chapter 4 is on the way.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Hangout</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>River takes Joss to the hospital to visit Randy and gushes to her about V. Because we know, that he did, just never heard it in-game. V also calls River to have that beer they had been talking about.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There will be some violence in this chapter, more so than before. V loves fighting from stealth, but when it's not an option, she is more than capable of going on a rampage. Especially when people she likes are in danger.<br/>Enjoy! ^^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>River</h2><p>River spent the next few hours by Randy’s side, then dragged himself home to his sister, getting into the truck that one of his fellow officers took to the hospital after him. He needed to get to Joss and give her the great news, but he didn’t want to call her before making sure Randy was okay to be left alone for a little bit. </p><p>She was already tearing the door of the trailer up when he showed, all but running for him. She was aware of how quickly he and V left to chase after the leads they got, and she was anxious to just hear what they found.</p><p>“River! You found anything? Have you found Randy? Where is he? Is he okay?” she asked him in quick succession, without even giving him a chance to answer any of the questions. </p><p>He just smiled at her. “He’s recovering in the hospital. He’ll be okay, Joss,” he told her. She immediately broke down, giving him a hug as she sobbed into his chest.</p><p>River couldn’t help but think back to the minute he held onto V similarly earlier that day. She was… He realized just how much he had fallen for her as she helped him free Randy, being amazed hearing the soothing tone of her voice, as she calmed his nephew and the others down. She was incredible, she was amazing, and she was everything he wanted. Everything he would ever want. </p><p>He wanted to kiss her then, just grab her and kiss her right there, partly to let some of his pent-up frustration out, partly to just tell her already, to ask her out and stop hiding behind the excuse of owing her a beer or two. But of course, the rest of the NCPD showed up right as he was about to ask her on a date, rudely interrupting his thoughts. </p><p>“Why didn’t you call me earlier?” Joss asked him angrily as she pulled out of his hug, wiping her eyes and her nose on the sleeve of her shirt.</p><p>“And how would you have gotten there, Joss? My truck was at the farm we found them at, until one of the officers brought it to the hospital after me. I came here as fast as I could, so that I could take you to Randy.”</p><p>“You could’ve just told your friend to come and get me,” she pointed it out. He did wonder how V got back to the city. He doubted she joined any of the officers in their patrol cars. </p><p>“She’s already done enough, Joss.” </p><p>“Where is she?” </p><p>He shrugged. “Knowing her, she’s already in the city, working tirelessly.”</p><p>Even though she should’ve been resting. He hated how pale she looked before and he had a feeling it wasn’t only exhaustion and the weight of trying to save whoever she was trying to save. She was hiding something from him. He just knew it. But the more often he brought it up, the more annoyed she got. He understood her reaction, but he felt like he needed to know. He had to help her. Somehow. Anyhow. </p><p>River wanted nothing more than to see her smile, to hear her kind voice, her hearty laugh that was music to his ears, and he wanted to keep her close, her soft cheek pressed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and her strong arms wrapped around his body. He just wanted to wrap himself around her, cradle her in his arms. </p><p>Wanted. He just… wanted. Needed. It was a sensation that he had all but forgotten along the long years of being single. And he still wasn’t sure if she would even reciprocate. He had to try, though. He would never forgive himself if he just let her waltz out of his life with the same ease she waltzed in.</p><p>Joss was suddenly giving him a strange look, that he didn’t get to ask about, because she was talking again. “Does Randy need anything? Clothes, anything at all? Did the doctors say anything?” </p><p>“No, he only needs rest. They are giving him medication to keep him calm. What he’s been through, Joss… It’s going to leave a mark.” He could see her mouth tremble, but she managed to keep herself calm and relatively collected. She was a strong woman.</p><p>“I can visit him, right?”</p><p>“Yes. But don’t expect much of a conversation for now. Like I said, he is heavily medicated.”</p><p>“That’s fine. Being next to him will be enough. Stay here, I’ll take the twins to Brenna real quick while you get me to the hospital. Then you’re coming back here, right? To watch over them? You know, that I don’t like leaving them with the neighbors.”</p><p>He was going to call V to schedule a meeting with her for that beer they had been talking about, but looked like it was going to wait. He could only hope that she would have time for him. She was always busy.</p><p>“Yeah, of course, I will watch over them.”</p><p>“Thanks.” </p><p>She was already off, heading back home to gather the kids. They were not really keen on being watched by their neighbor. River couldn’t help but wonder if she would even tell them where they would be going. Judging by their attitude as they emerged from the trailer, she didn’t tell them anything about their brother. He agreed with that. Not until Joss returned in the evening and could answer their multitude of questions. </p><p>He was leaning on his truck when Joss got back, barely five minutes later and got in without waiting for River. He followed suit and headed back to the hospital. They barely made it to the city and Joss had enough of the silence.</p><p>“So… have you known V long? You never talked about her before.”</p><p>“I met her a few weeks ago, she was working on a case that I had intel for. She contacted me for it.” River had all the answers ready. He knew, that an interrogation was in the works, as soon as he took V to his family’s home. Even if it was purely for business, it wasn’t like him to bring anyone home.</p><p>“She’s a detective?” she asked him, more than surprised.</p><p>“No. Mercenary.”</p><p>“You hired a mercenary?” She was clearly upset to hear this. “You brought a mercenary to my home? To my children?” River was about to defend V, to say that she’s not like the rest, when Joss sighed, calming herself. “But she did help you find Randy. I should probably thank her,” she added as she fished her phone out of her pocket and started writing her message. She deleted it several times and rewrote it immediately, rephrasing it.</p><p>“I doubt, that she requires a short novel, Joss,” he said, amused. It took her ten minutes to write a heartfelt message to V. She got a response within a few seconds.</p><p>“She’s nice. You know, for a mercenary,” she commented.</p><p>River couldn’t help but let a stupid smile appear on his face. He thought they would get along well enough. He only stopped smiling, when he realized it became a grin, and that Joss was staring at him. He schooled his expression in record time, keeping his gaze focused on the road ahead.</p><p>“What exactly is the nature of your relationship?” she asked him, and he kept silent. “River!” she laughed.</p><p>“We’re only friends,” he decided to tell her before she gets the idea to congratulate V on their nonexistent romantic relationship. </p><p>“Mhm. That smile of yours doesn’t appear for friends, Riv. It’s always been a telltale sign whenever you had a crush on someone.” </p><p>He rolled his eyes. “I don’t have a crush on her,” he murmured under his nose.</p><p>“Suuure,” she reacted. “And I’m not the mother of three.”</p><p>He sighed, wishing they could just put the topic to rest already. He gave his attention back to the road, ignoring his sister’s investigative, curious gaze. A few minutes passed before she talked again, quietly. </p><p>“It’s way more, than a simple crush, isn’t it?”</p><p>“Yup,” he answered briefly, right as he got a call. It was V. He answered almost immediately. “V,” he greeted her warmly. </p><p>“Speak of your sweetheart,” he heard Joss’ amused voice. He gave her an unimpressed side-glance as he narrowed his eye.</p><p>“Hey, River. I’m right between jobs and have a few minutes, so I thought I’d call and ask how Randy’s doing,” V got right to topic, as she usually did.</p><p>“He’ll definitely make a full recovery in a few weeks, at least physically. The mental scars won’t heal as quickly.”</p><p>“They never do,” she agreed, her voice empathetic. She knew exactly what he was talking about. “How’s Joss handling it?”</p><p>“We’re currently on our way back to the hospital. She can’t wait to see him again.”</p><p>“Yeah, naturally. She’s his mother. Ah, fuck! Stop shooting me, you asshole!” she suddenly yelled at someone. “Oooh, no. You don’t get to fucking walk away from me you little piece of gangoon shit,” she snarled. “Listen, River, I gotta go. I guess you heard what came up.”</p><p>“It was hard not to hear. Everything okay?”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, just about a dozen gangoons that think they’re the shit. They’ll be dead in a minute. I’ll hang up and call you back when I’m done, ‘kay? ‘Kay.” She didn’t even wait for his reaction, she had already hung up. </p><p>He was staring dumbfoundedly in front of himself, forgetting about the green light above them. It was already yellow when he was back to his senses and floored it, shutting his slightly hanging jaw and gripping the steering wheel tightly.</p><p>“What happened?” he heard Joss ask.</p><p>“She’s fighting a few gang members.” He sighed. “She always gets into some sort of trouble. You know, a few days ago, I called her to ask for her help with one of my cases. She answered in the middle of a fight against a cyberpsycho. Then she got shot. With a sniper rifle. It left a scar,” he angrily murmured. Why did he have to fall in love with someone who had such a dangerous job?</p><p>Joss gave him a knowing smile. “You’re worried about her.”</p><p>“Of course, I’m worried about her, Joss! She’s out there, risking her life multiple times a day, only to try and save someone close to her.” And as his luck would have it, it would most likely turn out to be that Johnny she had tattooed on her forearm. With a heart. And her own initial in it. He saw it before, but she never even mentioned the guy by name. It could’ve been recent. </p><p>He still barely knew anything about her. She might as well have been married to the guy, for all he knew. She wasn’t wearing a ring; jewelry tends to be hazardous in a fight, and she didn’t mention him when they talked about family before... Maybe a fling?</p><p>“It might be that Johnny, whose name is on her arm,” she observed thoughtfully, coming to the same conclusion as he did. “You don’t know if she’s involved with a guy with that name?”</p><p>“I don’t know much about her private life, Joss. I barely know her.”</p><p>“And yet you say, that you are in love with her,” she pointed it out. “It’s not like you to fall for someone like this, River.”</p><p>He gave her a side-glance. “I know enough for that. She’s intelligent, tough, capable, kind, and she’s also beautiful and compassionate. Joss, the way we found Randy and several others...” He quieted down, deciding to give her the option tell him she doesn’t want to hear the details.</p><p>“How did you find them?” she asked him, clearly afraid of the answer.</p><p>He took a deep breath to steady himself and gather his thoughts. “We found Randy and a few other boys in a barn, hooked to machines that were made for lifestock, as those pumped I don’t even want to know what into their system. While I tended to Randy, V helped the other three. I heard her comforting voice, as she freed them, how kind she was to them, even though she could’ve just set them free and be done with it. She mourned one of them, when she realized, that he was dead. Her entire face had fallen, nothing but sadness visible on it. She might be a professional, sometimes even ruthless killer, but she’s also one of the kindest people I know.” </p><p>And she was already calling him. “Sorry, I’m back. Saved a few civilians and kicked some butt in the meantime. Today’s shaping up to be a good day,” he heard her satisfied voice as soon as he accepted the call. He couldn’t help but smile and shake his head.</p><p>“Glad to hear you’re having fun, V.”</p><p>“Always. Now, if I could only remember what I was planning to ask you...”</p><p>“It’s okay, I got time,” he reacted.</p><p>“Time! Yes, thanks, River. I was going to ask you about that beer we’ve been talking about. Seems like I’ll be free after four if everything goes well. Will you be available after? There’s a great bar in Kabuki, with a noodlestand next to it. You gotta try those noodles, man. Oh, great. Now I’m hungry,” she murmured to herself. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, don’t laugh at me,” she scolded him. “I’m a busy woman.”</p><p>“You should take better care of yourself.”</p><p>She scoffed. “That’s what my friends are for. So, beer later today?”</p><p>“I... I’ll be watching the twins for Joss until she gets home. I don’t know when that would be exactly. I’ll call you when I get off guard duty.” Joss smacked his arm, narrowing her eyes at him. He just shrugged.</p><p>“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, River. You adore those two,” V told him after a small laugh. “Stop acting like watching over them is such a chore for you. You’re a family man; you thrive around them.”</p><p>“Hm. Someone knows me well.”</p><p>“I’m very observant. I thought you’ve realized that by now.” </p><p>He suddenly felt caught, felt seen. He did know, that she was observant. But that meant she also knew, or at least suspected his feelings. Was that the reason she asked him out? Because she just did. Like that, without sweating it. She made it seem so easy. </p><p>“I have. It just... feels strange. I still feel like I know nothing about you.”</p><p>She was quiet for a few seconds. He almost called out to her to check if she was still there. “You already know more than most. Isn’t that enough?” she asked with an impossibly soft voice.</p><p>“About you, V? No. It’s never enough,” he answered, matching her voice to the best of his abilities. </p><p>She went silent again, probably thinking about a response to that. He knew how it sounded, and he was just about done dancing around it. He wanted to talk to her already, to...to let her know and decide what she wanted out of this, if anything. </p><p>Then he heard a sigh. Not exactly the response he would’ve liked. “Then maybe you’ll learn more later today. Call me when you’re available.”</p><p>“Will do. Be careful out there, V. It was... good to hear your voice.”</p><p>“Yours, too, River. Say hi to Joss and Randy for me. See you later, then.”</p><p>“Later, V.” The call ended soon after, and he turned to his sister, who was grinning at him like an idiot. He grinned right back. He knew, why she was grinning like that. “She says hi,” he told her.</p><p>“Mhm. What was that about needing to guard Monique and Dorian?”</p><p>“I owe her a beer. Well, it feels like I owe her a lot more than that. But... she called to ask if I’m free for that beer later today.”</p><p>“And you said, that you have to watch the kids. You can be such an idiot, River. Why didn’t you invite her to the trailer park?”</p><p>Why didn’t he? It was a good question. </p><p>“I-I guess we will need some privacy.” Joss raised an eyebrow at that, as he rolled his eyes. “Not for that! Not today, at least... I don’t think... Urgh. I just want to talk to her.”</p><p>“Right. But is talking what she wants?”</p><p>He gave her a small, sad smile. “I don’t think she wants anything else from me. She’s laser-focused on her work, on trying to save that someone close to her. It... holds her back, in a sense. And that’s why I’m not really holding out hope that anything is going to come of it. Because I know, that she doesn’t speak to her family. It’s not any of them. It has to be someone she loves. She doesn’t strike me as the kind to love more than one and go behind the first one’s back without their knowledge.”</p><p>“This person could be her best friend, for all we know, River. That doesn’t mean, that you have to give up hope. Don’t give up on her.”</p><p>“I won’t. I will definitely talk to her about it this evening, let her know. I feel like a teenager again, so anxious and excited at the same time. It’s embarrassing.”</p><p>“Butterflies flying in your stomach?”</p><p>“Hah, yeah. Something like that.”</p><p>“And here I was, thinking you’ll never find yourself a nice lady. You’ve always been so busy with work.” She suddenly furrowed her brows. “Did you take a few days off?”</p><p>“Oh, right. I hadn’t told you.” He cleared his throat, almost embarrassed. “I’m suspended.”</p><p>“What!?”</p><p>“Yeah. Pissed off the wrong people. But I’ve been thinking. Even if they give my badge back, I’m not so sure I want it back. I had only just realized how deep corruption runs even inside the NCPD. I cannot work for people like that. I cannot condone their actions, the way they constantly sweep the truth under the rug. I just can’t stand for that injustice when we should be providing justice.”</p><p>“But what would you do?”</p><p>“Become a PI, most likely.”</p><p>“That’s one step away from a mercenary,” Joss commented thoughtfully, with some resentment in her words. He almost threw ‘At least I’m working, unlike someone I know,’ right back at her, but that would’ve been unfair. She needed to be there for her kids. He was aware of that.</p><p>“Maybe. But at least it pays well.”</p><p>“Or maybe you just want to work with V.” </p><p>He smiled. “I wouldn’t be opposed to that. We make a good team.”</p><p>“I believe you; you found Randy with her help. I hope he’s gonna be allowed to come home soon.”</p><p>“The doctors said that they’ll be able to tell us something more definitive tomorrow. There are still many tests they need to do.” Joss just nodded to this, deep in her thoughts. River could see it on her how much she missed Randy, how ready she was to pamper the boy. Make up for lost time.</p><p>He decided on not visiting his nephew again for the day, letting his sister navigate there on her own once they made it to the medical center. He doubted that Randy was awake, anyways. He needed the rest after all he’s been through, and River needed to hightail it back to the trailer park as quickly as he could to watch over the twins. </p><p>He made it back there soon enough. He barely got out of his truck, and the twins were already surrounding him, excitedly speaking over each other. Then Monique was grabbing his hand and towing him away from the truck to play. He already knew what, even before they got the accessories out for it. Big Trouble in Heywood. He knew it all by heart, though it’s been a while since he played it with them. He hadn’t spent much time in the trailer park in the last couple months. Work usually got in the way of visiting. But for now, he was there for them, and he felt more carefree, than he had in a long time.</p><p>He was in the middle of making them some dinner, when Joss called him, telling him, that they were practically throwing her out of the room. Randy wasn’t getting enough rest with someone with him every minute of every hour. He wasn’t surprised to hear her pissed-off tone; he understood her feelings. </p><p>River took the kids to Brenna again, thanking her for her continuous aid, then was off to get Joss home. He called V to ask if she was still up for that beer. A little later than four, but luckily, she was still free. They arranged a meeting at seven, to the place she mentioned before. She flicked him the address, because he’s never been there. He was worried about her. Her voice was hoarse, gravely, not at all what it usually sounded like. River wrote it up to the cigs she doesn’t smoke but does.</p><p>He couldn’t wrap his head around what is so complicated about her smoking habits. Actually, there were quite a few things, that he was puzzled about. He was hoping, that he could get at least a few answers. </p><p>He was home an hour before their designated meeting time, and he used that hour wisely. He even tidied up the place to make it presentable; he was a slob, he knew that. He had more important things to worry about, than doing laundry or washing the dishes. But he did the latter, and collected the former. Not that he expected them to end up back there later that evening. He had no idea what to expect. Was this a friendly meeting? Was it a date? They didn’t specify. It felt like a friendly meeting, though. Still, he decided to shower for the first time in two days, then changed into comfortable clothing, that emphasized his build, that he was proud of. He knew, that she’s already noticed it before, but he decided to go all out and chose clothes that were tight fits. He wanted to impress, damn it. He wanted to catch her staring at him approvingly, the same way he found himself gazing at her before. </p><p>He needed to learn how she felt about him, if she saw any chance to deepen what they were already building with each meeting and phone call.</p><p>River made it to the place a few minutes before their agreed time, and V was already there, leaning on the wall on her side, with her head also leaning against the wall. She was wearing tight leather pants and an also leather jacket, that left her midriff bare. River admired the view for a silent minute, while he could, as he was approaching her from behind. Her shoulders seemed tense, that could’ve clued him in, that speaking first to greet her would be the best idea. Still, his body was already reaching out towards her to lightly touch her shoulder. His touch was featherlight, but she nearly jumped out of her skin, swiftly turned around, and the next second, his back was hitting the wall with enough force to knock all air out of his lungs. Her left forearm was at his throat, while she deployed her mantis blade of the right, keeping the sharp edge of the blade inches from his face. He could only stare at the streetlight’s glimmer on the clean metal, as he heard her swear.</p><p>“Fuck, River! Don’t fucking do that again! I could’ve killed you!” Then he was free, as she retreated from him, standing a safe distance away. He didn’t want her to.</p><p>“My fault, really. I should’ve known better.”</p><p>“Yeah, you fucking should’ve!” she reacted, as her chest was all but heaving. She seemed more shaken by this than he was feeling. “Fuck!” she grunted, almost sounding like she was scolding herself as she began pacing back and forth, ignoring his curious gaze. She was having an intense reaction he couldn’t have predicted.</p><p>As soon as she paced within his reach, he was already reaching out to her, grabbing her wrist and tugging her into a comforting embrace. Much like earlier that day, she stiffened up for a few moments, then sagged against him and just enjoyed the moment. River figured she likely wasn’t used to being hugged. He aimed to change that.</p><p>“Don’t do that again, okay? Just… call out to me first to avoid decapitation by mantis blade,” she murmured against his chest, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at her voice. She immediately craned her head up to be able to look at him through her narrowed eyes. </p><p>“Promise,” he quickly told her before she decided to use her netrunner magic on him and fry his brain. She looked about ready to do that. </p><p>“Nova. Now, let’s get those beers.” With that, she was already out of his arms, patting his chest a few times, before turning towards the bar she chose. </p><p>He closed his eyes for a moment, banging his head against the wall, as he took a deep breath. He was about a hair’s width away from pulling her back in and pushing her up against the wall to kiss her wildly. He didn’t know how she was doing it to him. Especially this quickly. It was wild, how her mere proximity was enough to make him nearly lose his mind.</p><p>“River? You okay?” she called back to him after a few seconds, looking back at him over her shoulder. </p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Preem,” he answered quickly as he pushed himself away from the wall and caught up to her. </p><p>He noticed that she was watching him closely after this, as if she wanted to make sure that all was well. Even after they entered the bar and got themselves a table, she was watching him with a pondering, inquisitive gaze. She only looked away from him when he pointedly cleared his throat and lifted his cold bottle of beer.</p><p>“To fruitful partnerships,” he toasted, smiling at her. She mirrored his in the next second, lifting her own bottle and knocking it against his.</p><p>“May we solve enough cases together to eradicate all crime in the city,” she continued, grinning. </p><p>He let out a small laugh. “We would become legends of Night City, that’s for sure.” He really wished he hadn’t said that, as V’s face fell in a millisecond, the cheerfulness immediately gone. “Would… that be wrong?” he asked tentatively.</p><p>“N-no,” she answered without even looking at him, chewing her lips as she moved the cold bottle from one hand to the other absent-mindedly. “Just… wanting to become a legend in NC around me is not a good idea. Didn’t end well for the only other person, that brought it up,” she confessed without prompting, her voice shaky and sorrowful. </p><p>“Who did you lose?”</p><p>She took a long swig before she answered. “My best friend, Jackie. He was my first contact in the city and instantly won me over, even before he got me into the city itself,” she reminisced with a small smile on her face. “Then he took me into his home, showed me the city, showed me what being a mercenary is like, taking me on jobs with him. There were rarely any that we did alone. Our last one ended with his death. The biggest job we undertook yet. It really would’ve been legendary if we pulled it off without a hitch. But things spiraled out of our control, with us choosing the worst possible day to do what we were paid to do. The circumstances were just plain wrong. If we did it a day earlier, or maybe even later… He would still be alive and I wouldn’t be in the mess I’m in.”</p><p>It was a lot of information to process, and River had so many questions on his mind, he didn’t know which to start with. So, he just drank, hoping she would keep going and answer some of them even without him asking.</p><p>She drank again, with a stray drop of beer making its way down her throat, to her tattooed chest. He couldn’t help but follow it with his cybernetic eye, while the organic stayed on V. She usually kept eye-contact with that one, and he’d rather she not notice how he’s eyeing her every minute.</p><p>“You told me that you barely know anything about me,” she continued, looking right at him. “Are you sure, that you are ready for me to lay it all out on the table?”</p><p>“Are you ready to say it all?”</p><p>She let out a hollow, humorless laugh. “I’m never gonna be ready for that, River,” she admitted sourly. “It’s now or never; I’m not gonna offer it again. You gotta decide.”</p><p>“Then I’d like to hear it all.”</p><p>She nodded, took another sip and took a deep breath. “Almost a month ago now, Jackie and I were hired to steal a…” Her posture suddenly changed, from slouching to almost painfully straight and aware, as her dark grey eyes lit up, signaling an incoming call, that she decided to take.</p><p>Her eyes were off him immediately, as she furrowed her brows and turned her head away, fixating her gaze on the nearby wall, listening to whoever was on the other end.</p><p>“What do they want with Vik, of all people?” she asked, and he let out a disappointed sigh. They were always getting interrupted. He was beginning to hate it. “Urgh. I’ll deal with them later, don’t worry. I’m in the middle of a—What do you mean, that they’re there right now?” she raised her voice suddenly and was already off the chair. “Fuck, you could’ve started with that, Misty! Hang tight, I’ll be by in five minutes. Don’t let them see you, okay?” </p><p>River was looking up at her, recognizing the genuine distress on her as she leant on the table. “Go, V. We’ll… finish this later.”</p><p>“I-I was actually going to ask for your help,” she told him, almost seeming afraid of his answer.</p><p>“You have it. Always. Where are we headed?” he asked her in turn, baffling her for a second. Then she gave him a thankful smile and took her jacket off the seat, putting it on. </p><p>“To Misty’s Emporium.” The name didn’t tell him much, but he had a feeling she would tell him as they walked. “Misty was Jackie’s girlfriend and is a good friend of mine. She has a small esoteric shop nearby, renting to another friend of ours, Viktor Vector, who happens to be the best ripperdoc in the city. She called me to say, that some Maelstrom gangmembers are in the middle of harassing Vik. She’s scared.”</p><p>“Is he involved with the Maelstrom?” he asked her. He could tell that the question itself disgusted her by how she screwed her face up. “I’ll take that as a no. Then what do they want with him?”</p><p>“I dunno. But I aim to find out. They’re damned lucky I happened to choose this location for our… meeting.” Her hesitation was proof enough that he wasn’t alone with not being able to decide if this was actually a date or not. </p><p>“And what do you need my help for? You should be able to handle Maelstrom on your own, by what I know of your combat skills.”</p><p>“You don’t need to worry about them. I need you to keep Misty safe while I’m handling them. I need to find out what it is exactly, that they want from him. He doesn’t meddle in gang-stuff. Hop in,” she told him as they stopped near an old Porsche. </p><p>“New ride? I mean, new for you?” he asked as he stopped himself from ogling it and just got in.</p><p>“Yeah. Used to belong to a friend of mine. He hasn’t used it in decades, and likely won’t use it again, so…” she answered as she was already rolling out to the street, going over to the nearby Megabuilding, driving around it and into a small alley. It was filled with people, both working and perusing. In one of the lit windows, he spotted a dancer that had the same colored hair as V, dancing seductively to all that walked by her window. </p><p>For a moment, his mind wondered how V would look in such revealing clothing, dancing like that, only for him and no one else.</p><p>“You can ogle the view later, River,” he heard V’s less than pleased voice. He must’ve been staring for a while.</p><p>He turned back to her immediately, an apology on his lips, but she was already walking away from him, and into the small shop nearby. He couldn’t help but notice three vehicles parked near the entrance, with Maelstrom signs all over them. Subtle. Real subtle of them.</p><p>The apology will have to wait. Should he even apologize? It certainly felt like, he should. But why? He was just… he got distracted, noticing some similarities. That’s all. So, why did he feel the need to apologize?</p><p>“Misty, I’m here,” V whispered as she cracked the door open. </p><p>Not even a second later, it was all but torn open and a wild-haired woman was hanging off V’s neck. “I’m so glad, that you were home. I wasn’t sure… I never know, where you end up for your jobs, and...” She let go of V, and her gaze found his. “Oh, sorry. I’m not doing tarot readings right now. There’s an emergency with a friend of ours. I can’t focus on reading right now.”</p><p>River saw V’s grin at her friend’s reaction. “That’s a first. Misty, this is River. He’s with me, here to help keep you safe while I handle the guys that are harassing Vik. River, as you could tell, she’s Misty. Be nice to each other and stay out of trouble while I’m gone,” she told them with the same tone a mother uses to make sure her children behave. Then she was already out of the small room through the backdoor.</p><p>“Yes, ma’am,” he murmured under his nose.</p><p>Misty immediately hopped up on the table, staring after V with a worried expression, her legs dangling back and forth. River made sure he chose a place where he could see both entrances to keep his eyes on anyone trying to enter. </p><p>Barely two minutes passed before Misty turned to him. “Is V on a job for you? Is that why you’re with her?”</p><p>He shook his head. Was everything business only in V’s life? “No. We were having a beer in a nearby bar when you called her.” </p><p>She thoughtfully furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly to the right as she observed him, critically, completely unabashed. He felt naked under her gaze. “Hmm. Your aura. It’s interesting. It explains why you’re with her. You like her,” she deduced. From his aura. What the hell?</p><p>“We wouldn’t be friends if we didn’t like each other,” he deflected, with what sounded like a good point to him. If only his voice didn’t waver as he said it. </p><p>Instead, she gave him a knowing smile. “We both know it’s more than that. After all, she doesn’t simply have beer with anyone. Not anymore. This last month… Poor V, the things, she’s going through.”</p><p>They both snapped their attention to sounds of struggle and car doors being slammed outside. “Is there another way out of your friend’s place?” he asked her.</p><p>“Yeah, through the alley. You think that they…” she quieted down as the first engine started, then she was immediately at the window, looking outside. “But… V?” she looked back at him, scared for their friend.</p><p>The same friend that just tore the backdoor open, looking like a mess. She was pale, her nose was bleeding, and she was shaking. River was instantly by her side.</p><p>“The fuckers got Vik,” she snarled as she gently pushed his arms away from her as he tried to help her. “This blasted thing decided to malfunction at the worst possible time! We’re heading after them.” She was suddenly looking at him. “And you’re driving and you better bring your a-game instead of driving like a grandma, because I’m not losing another friend,” she snarled, then whined in pain and held her head. “Urgh. Let’s… let’s go.”</p><p>“Is it the…?” he heard Misty’s quiet question. V simply nodded as she dragged herself to the front door, to her friend. “Be careful, okay?” </p><p>“No promises.”</p><p>Then she was out the door, heading towards her car. There was nothing else to do, so he followed her and got behind the wheel, immediately flooring it. He couldn’t afford to lose the vans in front of them, but he sometimes glanced at V. For the first two minutes of their ride, her face was continuously reflecting the pain she was feeling, then, taking deep breaths, she calmed herself enough to open her eyes and look at him. She immediately saw the panic written on his face, so she gave him a calming smile.</p><p>“Don’t worry, it’s just a faulty implant. Vik’s been looking for another to swap it out. Taking it out would mean losing most of my combat abilities, so I cannot afford to do that just yet,” she explained.</p><p>“But… you’re in pain, V. Surely, you can go a few days without entering combat against anyone,” he argued, not at all reassured about what he was hearing. “How often does such a malfunction happen?”</p><p>“I said don’t worry about it, River. Focus on driving or we’ll lose them.”</p><p>He frowned. “Fine. But then we’re finishing that conversation you started at the bar. And you’re gonna tell me all about this implant of yours,” he said in a matter-of-fact voice. She didn’t say anything, just nodded. “Good.” </p><p>River’s had to trail a few people in his days, so he knew what distance to keep to be as inconspicuous as they could be. They followed them to the docks, where the vans rode into a warehouse and the gate immediately shut after them. He parked on the sidewalk, and the car barely stopped moving, V was already out, her mantis blades deployed and ready to kill. He wasn’t too keen on killing, but this was Maelstrom… No one would miss these bastards but each other. They were barely any loss.</p><p>He got his trusty revolver out, checked the ammo he always has packed, and followed V to the tall concrete wall. V was already scanning the area, looking for gangmembers, then she looked back to her car and blinked a few times, only realizing just then that he was right behind her.</p><p>“What are you doing?” she asked him, upset.</p><p>“What does it look like? I’m gonna help you.”</p><p>“Like hell you are! You’re staying out here, where it’s safe.”</p><p>“You kidding me? It wouldn’t be my first fight, you know.” He was getting equally pissed. “Just because I don’t go around killing people every day, doesn’t mean that I haven’t killed before. I can handle myself.”</p><p>“River…”</p><p>“I’m going with you,” he insisted stubborn as ever. He could see it on her, that she was close to bashing his skull into the concrete just to stop him from following her. </p><p>She knew, that he wouldn’t budge, so she just tightened her jaw and spat “Fine.” Then she was off, double jumping onto the top of the wall. Two seconds later, bodies were hitting the ground, out of his eyesight. He only heard the thuds of flesh and metal. She was looking a little too satisfied, when he couldn’t get the gate open to follow her, smirking at him. “What’s the matter, big guy? I thought you were capable? Shame a single gate became your worst enemy.” A second later, she was jumping up to the balcony to enter through the open window. </p><p>“Damn it, V!” He was straining his metal arm trying to wedge the gate open, but it simply wasn’t budging. So he improvised. He got back into the Porsche, parked it closer to the wall, jumped on it, then jumped over to the other side.</p><p>By the time his feet touched down, a firefight had already broken out inside the warehouse, with people dying mid-scream, if he could tell it right. He quickly checked his gun, then entered the warehouse, immediately taking aim and firing at a guy, that was in the middle of changing the mag in his gun. He got him straight through the skull. Before he keeled over, half of his skull blown off, he managed to replace the clip, sliding it into place, even though he was dead already.</p><p>The second guy he saw was hiding behind some crates, shooting at V, who had and absolutely vicious look on her face as she focused on the woman in front of her, their mantis blades colliding as they fought their own small battle. River could see that she was occupied, so he walked closer, taking cover behind one of the vans, shooting that second guy, that just managed to graze V with a bullet, making her snarl.</p><p>“Do me a favor and kill yourself,” she pushed it through gritted teeth, as she finally got the upper hand against her opponent. The guy River was aiming at then just swore and shot himself in the head, doing as she commanded. </p><p>H-how?</p><p>River was just staring at V, as she mercilessly decapitated the woman, then took hold of her own revolver; the only weapon she carried, aimed, and then a body was falling from the catwalk, landing near River himself, skull nonexistent. She was on a warpath, with the only ending in sight being the number of their enemies decreasing to zero. </p><p>“I see you made it over the fence,” she told him with a less than pleased look on her face. “Get Viktor out of here. He’s in the van closest to you.” He wanted to argue with her, but he saw no use. </p><p>She didn’t look like she was in a chatty mood. She was in a murderous mood, as more of the Maelstrom poured out of the rest of the warehouse, on both levels. He counted nine of them. He had to realize, that the faster he got her friend out, the faster he could return to help her, so he all but tore the door open and immediately got a fist to the face for his attempt to get the guy out.</p><p>The dark-haired man seemed groggy, as if he had just woken. He was sporting a bruise on his head, so River presumed he was knocked out. That didn’t stop him from swinging another fist and damn near hitting him again. River dodged, with the man’s pinky brushing his nose as his fist passed by him. </p><p>“H-hey, Viktor, it’s okay, I’m here with V.” The ripperdoc looked skeptical as he readjusted the tinted glasses sitting on his nose. </p><p>“Hmpf,” Viktor reacted simply, as he got out of the van, looking for V to make sure River wasn’t lying. He cleverly hid behind the nearest crate as he stared at the carnage that she was the centerpiece of. River had a feeling he’d never seen her fight. Well, neither did he, in fact…</p><p>“Let’s get you out of here. She’s handling it on her own.”</p><p>“Is she?” Viktor asked back in a raspy voice, making River follow his gaze. V was busy defending herself against two melee fighters; one with electric batons, one with electrified mantis blades. She just barely dodged a blade heading straight for her eye, with the blade leaving a long gash on her face, her blood instantly flowing out of it. </p><p>She was looking feral by that point. “Get. Out. Already,” she snarled, punctuating as she kicked out, shot two guys dead and dodged another would-be fatal blow. River couldn’t watch it anymore and got closer, joining the fight, shooting from behind cover. “I said…”</p><p>“I know, what you said. I say, fuck it. I’m not leaving you to handle this mess alone.”</p><p>“River,” she threateningly snarled as she finally gazed at him, her face full of fury one second and terror in the next. </p><p>River felt the hot impact of the bullet a second later, furrowing inside his torso from behind, from above him. He didn’t know, that there was someone else up there, behind him. He thought there was only that one guy V had already killed.</p><p>“River!”</p><p>At least she wasn’t snarling anymore, but he decided he would’ve preferred that to the panic that was taking hold of her, making her lose focus. </p><p>“Vik, get that fucking gate open and take River to the van, back out of here and wait for me outside,” she told the ripperdoc, who was already on his way to him.</p><p>“’m okay,” River insisted, not convincing anyone. To try and prove it, he turned around, took aim and shot the guy that shot him. Well, at least, he tried to. His aim was off. Really, really off.</p><p>“Stop fucking around! You’re not dying on me!” Aaand V was back to snarling as her eyes lit up once again. “Just die already,” she pushed out as she looked at three of their enemies. Those all turned their own guns on themselves, pulling the trigger.</p><p>“Jesus,” he heard Viktor as the man got next to him and dragged him to the van, doing what V was telling him to. </p><p>River could see her already walking towards them, her blades folded back into her arms, as she continued blindly shooting as she retreated, miraculously never getting shot herself.</p><p>“She’s so beautiful when she’s angry, well, she’s always beautiful, but… especially when she’s angry,” he thought, just looking at her as Viktor made him sit in the back of the van. Judging by the chuckle that left the other man, he managed to say it out loud. He was getting dizzy, that’s true…</p><p>“Stay awake,” the doc told him as he closed the door of the van, immediately giving his attention to River. Then V was slamming the front door and backing out of the warehouse, slamming through the gate Viktor never got a chance to open. Crude, but effective. If only the movement the collision caused didn’t hurt him so much.</p><p>They were speeding away from the scene in less than a minute, with V out of his sights, and no matter how he tried to turn, he couldn’t get a good look at her.</p><p>“Not now, Johnny!” he heard her mutter. To this, even Viktor snapped to attention. “I said, not now! Your car’s gonna be fine! It survived fifty years on its own. I got more pressing issues at the moment.”</p><p>“For fuck’s sake, V, even we can hear you!” Viktor told her, sounding a little worried.</p><p>“Sorry! Adrenalin does that!”</p><p>“And it’s getting worse,” he murmured as he tended to River’s wound. </p><p>“’tis not so bad, right?” he asked the ripperdoc. </p><p>“V, hurry up, he’s losing a lot of blood.”</p><p>“Just what the fuck do you think I’m doing? This shit is no Caliburn to soar through the streets! I’m doing my best, okay?!” she yelled louder than necessary. “Don’t you fucking dare die on me, River! You understand? No. Dying. Today.”</p><p>A pain-filled, half-hearted “Yes, ma’am,” was his only reaction. She just promptly let out a series of curses, not taking her eyes off the road.</p><p>River couldn’t tell how long it took them to get back to the alley that looked familiar from behind his blurry vision as Viktor opened the backdoor of the van.</p><p>“I’ll get him down to the clinic. You get everything ready,” V was telling the ripperdoc, who was gone from the van in the next second. “Can you walk?” she asked River, who was just blearily staring up at her. “Fuck!” she swore when she realized, that he was barely conscious by that point, his grey t-shirt all but soaked through completely. </p><p>Then she was pulling on his legs to tug him to the edge of the van, staring at him as she chewed her lips, clearly thinking about something pressing.</p><p>“I know, Johnny. But I’m not letting him die,” she snarled at someone River couldn’t see or hear. He chalked it up to her being on the holo with this Johnny guy.</p><p>“He your boyfriend?” River asked her as she also pulled on his arms to sit him upright. “This Johnny guy. Saw the tattoo.”</p><p>She snorted. “He wishes.”</p><p>“Then who...” she was pushing a finger to his lips the next second. </p><p>“Not now, River. You need to focus on not dying right now. Can you do that for me?”</p><p>“For you? Anything, V.” The ghost of a smile played on her lips as she hoisted him up into a fireman carry, grunting.</p><p>“Jesus, River. You gotta lay off the weights for a while, man. Your muscles look great, but urgh, you’re heavy,” she kept grunting as she headed down to Viktor’s clinic.</p><p>By the time they were there, Viktor was already preparing everything for him. V all but threw him onto the surgery chair, breathing heavily. </p><p>“I’mma go get him a wheelchair for when you’re done. I sure as hell am not carrying him again. Argh, my back hurts,” she complained. She was already walking away.</p><p>“You’re bleeding, too, you know,” Vik called out after her.</p><p>“He’s priority. I’m fine,” she said and was out of River’s eyesight, heading upstairs. He was left blinking at the ripperdoc, who was jamming a needle into his arm. He wasn’t a fan of needles, but the fuzzy feeling spreading in his body was way worse, than the needle.</p><p>His last memory was of Viktor, as he was leaning above him, getting ready to fix him up.</p><p>River’s head was pounding when he woke up next, in an unfamiliar place, laying in an unfamiliar bed, with a cat purring on his chest. She woke when he did and yowled at him before climbing off and taking her place in the small basket next to the bed. He just blinked for a good five seconds, before he pushed himself up to sit, his injury stinging a little with each movement. There were only scars left of the places where the bullet entered and left his body, as he could see once he took the bandage off. Viktor did a good job fixing him. Maybe there was a reason V called him the best ripperdoc in the city.</p><p>He yawned, as he carefully stretched his limbs, looking out the window that ran almost the whole length of the wall next to him. It was a much nicer apartment, than his own; certainly more spacious, at least. He didn’t even need to wonder who it belonged to, as he saw her standing behind a frosted glass door, working on something. He took a minute to just think about what he was going to say to her, and as if to encourage him, the cat jumped into his lap, pushing her head against his naked torso. He scratched under her chin, earning a satisfied meow before he stood up, not bothering to pull his boots on. The cold floor beneath his feet felt great.</p><p>He approached V, who was in the process of cleaning one of her guns. She had an impressive arsenal, despite only ever carrying a revolver. The door was silent, as it opened, but she knew, that he was standing there, leaning on the doorframe, scratching her cat. </p><p>“Cleaned your piece, too,” she got right into the middle of it all, pointing to his revolver that was to her right. “I was already in the middle of all these and I thought... Hope you don’t mind.”</p><p>“It’s very thoughtful. Thanks, V.”</p><p>“Yeah, sure.” She still wasn’t turning to look at him and he doubted she was actually doing anything. Her body was tense. She was trying to avoid him, he suspected. “How are you feeling?”</p><p>“Good as new. Your friend is as good as you said.” She just nodded, and he was quickly getting fed up with her passivity. He didn’t know what warranted it and he hated it. </p><p>So, he pushed himself away from the door after a small sigh, and closed the distance between them, suddenly cursing the cat he was holding, because his arms were occupied and couldn’t wrap around V, his lips couldn’t put a trail of kisses up her neck, as he wanted to do so. He wanted this newfound coldness to evaporate from her tense, rigid body and wanted her to melt against his skin. As if she could feel this, she was stepping out of his reach, walking to the other wall to put the gun she was cleaning back into its place on the wall. But she was cornered, there was no place left for her to turn to, to escape to, so she took a deep breath and turned around, putting her weight on the table. </p><p>His gaze was instantly on the slightly pinkish scar on her face. “It’s healed already. Don’t worry about it.”</p><p>River gave her a small smile. “I can’t help but worry, V.”</p><p>She was suddenly avoiding his gaze again. Something was bothering her, she closed up, crossing her arms above her chest. Her jaw was tightened, as she just stared at her collection.</p><p>“I should go. Some preparations need to be made for a job of mine,” she said suddenly, as she pushed herself away from the table and rushed past him, almost quicker than his eyes could perceive. </p><p>He was putting the cat down in the next second, running after her. He caught up right before she opened the front door and he could hold her back, pull her back and push her up against the wall. He could see the anger resurface on her, the same vicious look she had when she was fighting. And suddenly, it was all clear to him. She was still mad at him for following her.</p><p>“It was my decision to go after you.”</p><p>As her grey eyes snapped up to his, he realized, that he hit the nail on the head. “It was an idiotic decision that nearly got you killed, you dumbass!” she snarled at him, as she hit his chest a little harder, than she should’ve. “Jackie died in the backseat of a car, staring right at me as he bled out from a bullet wound! You think that’s something easily forgotten? And then a bullet went through you, with you nearly bleeding out in the back of the van! I can’t go through that again, River. I can’t!” she protested, weaker, than he’d seen her before. Her mask of confidence and anger was gone, with grief and pain and concern taking its place.</p><p>He wasn’t even thinking, just wrapped his arms around her again, pushing her completely up against the wall, without leaving an inch between their bodies. His organic hand quickly found its way under her tank top at her back, while the metal was combing through her blue hair at the nape of her neck, trying to soothe her fried nerves.</p><p>Her arms were hugging him close, as she buried her head into the crook of his neck and just breathed. </p><p>Neither of them talked for a good five minutes, then V was letting go of him and lifting her head up. “I really need to go, though. Something spectacular is going to happen this evening, and I really need to be there for it.”</p><p>He hummed. “Something I should watch out for?”</p><p>“More like something you should stay away from. Please,” she added, as she smiled up at him and pushed a kiss to his cheek. “Have a nice day, River,” she added, not even waiting for him to wake up from his momentary stupor. </p><p>“C-call me later?” he pushed out. </p><p>“Will do. We need to finish that beer and have a few conversations.”</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>“Oh, and when you get out of my apartment, go right, then take the elevator down to the garage. I parked your truck next to my rides. You won’t miss it. And don’t forget to take your gun, too,” she quickly told him, then slipped out the door.  </p><p>She lied to him. Even after nearly two days, she hadn’t called, nor picked up when he decided to call her. Was she back to ignoring him, or was she in trouble? He had no idea, but it didn’t make him any less worried.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Don't worry, River was never in any real danger. V needed to somehow finally admit her feelings towards River to herself. She needed a push. ;)<br/>And I know, that I took some liberties with the Suicide quickhack, but it would've been amazing if it could be used against multiple enemies standing close to each other.<br/>Also, Vik is a grumpy old man, who cares about V, and I love him to bits for it. Our girl needs some nice people in her life.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Following the River</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We all know what happens during this mission... The cookout at the trailer park.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, we made it to this chapter! Yay!<br/>Now, just a forethought. I don't like writing smut. Give me a fight-scene to write, or anything, and I'm your gal. But smut? Meh. I know, that I'm not good at it. At least, I don't think I am. But it happened during this mission, and I wanted to stick to the canon as much as it felt right, so there's smut. <br/>Enjoy! ^^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>V</h2><p>The only thing left for me to do was meeting Hanako. I still had a day left until the time we agreed on, and I could feel my strength diminish, my body slowly slipping away from me. I didn’t have much time left, but I was hoping, that I could hold out at least until that meeting. It wasn’t looking good, as I woke up in the middle of the day, once more without any recollection of what I was doing before I keeled over earlier that night. I didn’t even know what dump I ended up in this time. It was terrifying.</p><p>I was barely awake, my head pounding, when I reflexively accepted an incoming call. It was River’s voice, that greeted me, with his first few words not even meaning anything to me. I was so out of it; I could barely focus on not throwing up in the middle of the conversation. I knew, that he noticed it immediately, noticed just how gravely my voice was, how weak. </p><p>But I didn’t care. If there was someone, that accepted me, the whole package, that was this stubborn badge I’ve known for about a month now. Even hearing his voice was making me all kinds of giddy, and it was something, that I hated.</p><p>I hated, how I realized just how much I liked him when I saw a bullet leave his body as quickly as it entered. How panicked I felt as I was driving back to Vik’s clinic, stealing glances at him and only seeing the red staining his shirt, and his bronze skin paling. It was happening again. I was back in the taxi, Jackie bleeding out right by my side. I was losing it. I was losing River, too. </p><p>Well, I was losing him one way, or another. Or, more like he was losing me and soon. It felt like I should give him an explanation, tell him just why I’ll likely stop answering his calls soon. It would break his heart, I knew, to hear about my condition. The way he treated me, how he looked at me, how he enjoyed holding me close... I was about to shatter his heart. </p><p>It wasn’t part of the plan. Our feelings for each other. </p><p>A badge, of all people. Just what the fuck was I thinking? But maybe that was the problem. I was way past thinking. It was all about feeling. And damn, if it didn’t feel right. It certainly felt like it could’ve worked out if we had more time. But now? With me having a few days left to live? How would I even start that conversation? Would he be even willing to have me? Have sex with a dying woman, that cannot give him anything but that one night? </p><p>“V?” I heard his questioning voice. I was getting distracted and he was waiting for an answer.</p><p>I cleared my throat and agreed to having a cookout with his family in a few hours. I had a feeling, that I would be needing those few hours to pull myself together after my last fit. Turned out, I was in Pacifica – the best place for a vacation, really – and it took me a while to drag my ass back to my apartment. I took a shower, meaning I sat down on the cold floor and just let the hot water warm me to my bones. </p><p>It was a hot day outside, so I chose to wear shorts and a crop top that showed a generous amount of skin, that I knew River liked, but since his family would be there, too, I pulled a denim jacket on to be a little more family-friendly. I also decided to leave my revolver in the car when I arrived there. The kids didn’t need to be surrounded by weapons.</p><p>I parked the Porsche next to River’s truck, and as soon as I was out and heading towards the already cooking man, I was waylaid by the joyous and active twins, who seemed genuinely happy to see me. Their smiles were infectious, as I was nearly grinning by the time I arrived to River, who also felt hot out in the blazing sun, losing the heavy coat he preferred. </p><p>He was hot. God, he was so fucking hot. Last time I saw him, he was half-naked, his strong body pushed against mine, and I practically had to restrain myself not to pull him into a kiss right there and then and stop my hands from wandering all those muscles of his. </p><p>“<em>Damn, V. Control yourself. You’re just about ready to jump his dick right here,</em>” I heard Johnny’s voice, reminding me, that if I decided to do just that, he would be right along the ride, feeling it all. </p><p>“<em>I’m not that far gone, Johnny.</em>”</p><p>“<em>You sure? ‘Cause I’m positive there’s already a waterfall down there.</em>” I rolled my eyes, then joined River.</p><p>He wanted me to help him cook. Me. Who once burnt a toast so black it was less bread more coal. But hey, at least stirring was easy. Round and round, stirring and stirring, and getting distracted by the man that was chopping tomatoes with his back to me, giving me a great view of his shapely ass. </p><p>We got to talking, nothing heavy, not yet at least. He wasn’t willing to answer my question regarding Harris. I was going to ask it last time we met, but that evening didn’t exactly go as planned. The whole reason I chose a bar near my own place was that I pretty much planned on getting him into my bed. Well, that’s not exactly the circumstance in which he did end up there, snoring loudly from the anesthetic Vik gave him. But at least Biscuit got to have someone else but me to purr against, and accepted him quickly, even making herself comfortable on his chest.</p><p>I was so close to joining them in the bed. So damned close. But I couldn’t sleep, I had way too many things on my mind that night. The cause of most of those sleeping in my bed.</p><p>I couldn’t help myself, but comment on how carefree he looked as he was cooking, how happy to be amongst his family. It felt like I was intruding on something special, but neither the kids, nor Joss minded my presence, when I spoke to her in the kitchen. She was on the phone when I entered the trailer, so I loitered around the aquarium until she finished the call with who I presumed was Randy’s doctor. I approached her only then, looking for the rice River sent me in for. A quick scan allowed me to learn, that she was still not sleeping well, but she looked decidedly better than last I saw her. </p><p>I was glad to hear her son was getting better, but hearing, that River couldn’t stop gushing about me was even better. I needed a minute to collect myself after this information, to wipe that stupid grin off my face. By the time I poured the rice into the jambalaya, my face was as pleasantly neutral as ever, hiding the sudden burst of affection I was feeling. </p><p>Then he beckoned me over into the shade of the porch, to have some beer while we waited for the food to cook. I knew that something heavy was eating at him, even before he asked me if I wanted to hear what happened to their parents, completely unprompted. I could tell, that it wasn’t easy for him to talk about such a topic, but I didn’t tell him to stop. I knew exactly what it was like to have the need to share a burdening thought or topic with someone. It was good to just let it all out every once in a while. </p><p>What I didn’t understand is why he decided to tell me at that moment. What brought these thoughts up? </p><p>I comfortingly put a hand on his shoulder as he leant forward, beer bottle cradled in his hand. Then I learnt just why he told me about how his parents died, how helpless and useless he felt. Despite wanting to, he didn’t kill Harris. He visited him at the hospital, but that was it, he found himself thinking back to that fateful day he was forced to put a gun to his own mother’s head. I didn’t envy him for going through that. For witnessing the death of not only his parents, but his happy family… No wonder he was clinging to the idea of a happy family and how much he loved his sister and his niece and nephews. </p><p>The twins were more than eager to interrupt our chat to get their uncle to play with them. I would’ve been content watching from the sidelines; my head was pounding again, that’s why I didn’t even drink any of the beer, either. But River had other ideas asking me to join their game of Big Trouble in Heywood. I hadn’t played it before, so I took him up on his offer.</p><p>I suddenly felt like I was more than a decade younger, as I put the headset on and got hold of the toy gun. It had a surprisingly good and accurate grip. The game began loading soon, with the interface scanning the environment to adapt to it. So cool.</p><p>I couldn’t stop grinning as I looked at everything, then at River, as he materialized a few feet from me, his arms crossed above his chest, ready to play. He was wearing a skin-tight cop uniform, that looked great on him, emphasizing his muscles. And his ass. I hadn’t even realized, that I was wearing a similar one until he complimented it, just as the kids joined us, looking nothing like themselves, having their whole badass cop personas thought out. Even my Kiroshi implant picked up a few things about them, namely how Henry Callahan to my left had a hefty bounty on his head, despite being a badge himself. How that would work out, I had no idea. I was a little disappointed, when I saw no new information for River.</p><p>I was given the quick overview of our dutiful mission, then the party began. River felt like he needed to ask me to let them win the shootout. He didn’t even need to ask; I wasn’t going to beat them at their own game. It was their fun; I intended to let it be fun for them. Honestly, I chuckled to myself at their constant bickering and commentary as we progressed, catching River smiling at me for it several times. After the second confrontation, the headache became a full-blown Relic malfunction, as I expected it soon would, and I spent a few seconds lagging behind, leaning on the back of the seating between two trailers. </p><p>I caught up to them quickly enough, as my vision was still glitching and I was swaying on my legs, and I could tell, that River saw it all, by how the fun vanished from his face and worry took prominence. I gave him a smile as I stopped next to Joan, ready for the next section of the story to load. It happened to be yet another ambush, with a confrontation of the BBEG of the story. I let out a disappointed sound when Joss walked through the hologram, telling us to follow her to dinner. </p><p>River thanked me for letting them win, and honestly, I even forgot that I was holding a gun that I was supposed to be using. It was fun just to watch the kids live their fantasy career of chasing the bad guy, overcoming all obstacles in their path. </p><p>“Are you okay?” he asked me as we were approaching the table, where the twins were already excitedly telling their mother about how they kicked our butts. With Joss promptly, but subtly reminding them not to use words like that. It completely flew over their heads. “I saw you falter.”</p><p>“Let’s have dinner first, hmm?” I asked him right back and could see how he wanted to ignore it and just pull it out of me already. “You worked tirelessly for this jambalaya, I would hate for it to go to waste.”</p><p>He instantly narrowed his eye at me, but left the topic to rest for now. The food was good, the company was better, as we got to talking, mostly about family. I told Joss the condensed version of the story, that even the kids could hear, simply telling them that my family fell apart. Which was completely true, just not the whole truth. But River knew, and he didn’t object or add anything. He was aware it was a topic not for kids’ ears. </p><p>Then Joss confirmed what I had been suspecting for a while, making her brother blush and scold her immediately. I made a comment about not seeing any wedding bells in my future.</p><p>At this point, I didn’t see a future for myself. It was a depressing thought.</p><p>And much like Joss, the kids would be on board with a romantic relationship developing between River and me. Just for the hell of it, I raised my hand when they put it to vote. River’s attention instantly snapped to me as the kids laughed, and I challengingly cocked an eyebrow at him, smirking. </p><p>His jaw tightened, his muscles tensed for a fraction of a second, then he was pushing his chair back, with enough speed it nearly toppled over. I knew, that I was supposed to follow him, so I did, asking if this was a romantic stroll after we thanked Joss for taking initiative like that. We definitely needed the push.</p><p>He told me, that he wasn’t about to pick me any flowers. I refrained from pointing it out, that there weren’t even any flowers around for him to pick. I knew, because I looked around quickly. I had absolutely no idea why he was taking me to the nearby water tower, but I decided to indulge him and trust him. I knew, that he had to have a reason. </p><p>I technically didn’t need him to boost me to the other side of the gate, since I had an implant, that allowed me to jump twice in quick succession. It would’ve gotten me over the gate just as easily. I kicked it out, when I was on the other side, then let River take the lead, up to the top of the tower. The view of the city was incredible, he was right about that.</p><p>We sat down on the edge, my mind instantly wondering about whether I would survive the plunge down if the Relic decided to malfunction again and I lost consciousness. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to find out. </p><p>Things were getting serious, when River handed me his revolver, saying it would serve me better. A gift like that… It’s wasted on a dying woman. I just didn’t know how to tell him, so I accepted it, thanking him for the thoughtful gift. </p><p>It was… a little awkward for a few seconds, as we sat in complete silence, just watching the busy city from the distance. Then he began <em>that</em> conversation, and I joked about pick-up lines, telling him the worst three I was given. Soon, he was leaning back, giving me a great view of his sexy calves, that I didn’t need. There wasn’t a part of him, that I didn’t find attractive.</p><p>I wanted to kiss him so badly, to just finally let this feeling wash over me, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t give him the happiness, the family he wanted. So what would’ve been the point? I was worth nothing. My feelings for him were worth nothing. It was way too late for everything. </p><p>“So, that’s how it is,” he gave voice to his disappointment, giving up after a minute of silence, while I tried to make up my mind. </p><p>Damn, this was harder, than I ever could have expected. To watch him stand up and walk back to the ladder to head back down… </p><p>“The life I’m trying to save is my own,” I blurted it out, close to crying for the first time in forever. </p><p>There was one thing, that I really wanted to work out, and it wasn’t happening. It was infuriating, as well as utterly destroying me.</p><p>“And I’m not doing a good job of it,” I added, turning back to watch the city as I pulled my knees up and rested my chin on top, hugging my legs. I scoffed. “I couldn’t be doing a worse job even if I tried. I will be dead by the end of this week.”</p><p>A few seconds later, he was back, sitting down close to me. “What?” he weakly asked for confirmation, that yes, I did just tell him that I was dying. </p><p>I took a deep, shaky breath, gathering my thoughts to finally finish telling him what I wanted to tell him days ago.</p><p>“Almost a month ago, Jackie and I were hired to steal a biochip from the penthouse of Konpeki Plaza. We had it all planned out, we got inside the penthouse, we found the chip we were looking for, then Yorinobu Arasaka promptly murdered his own father in front of our eyes, as we hid from them. We obviously couldn’t leave the way we came in, so we improvised, trying to scale the building from the outside. But Saburo’s security forces were already on their way via AV, spotted us, shot the glass out from under us and let us fall into the service tunnels. Jackie got wounded and the case of the biochip got damaged, its integrity falling by every second. To protect the chip, Jackie inserted it into his head, then we made our way all the way down, into a Delamain cab and headed to the man that hired us, Dexter DeShawn. By the time we were there, Jackie was dead, the biochip in my hands. To keep it safe, I inserted it, then made my way to Dex. Who promptly shot me in the head and then dumped my dead body into the trash heap outside of the city.”</p><p>“D-dead?”</p><p>It was all too much for him, I knew. But I needed him to know the full truth.</p><p>“The biochip that remained in my head brought me back to life, then a little later, as I was finally recovered enough, its true nature was revealed to me. There’s an engram on it, Johnny Silverhand’s. Yep, that Johnny Silverhand. Rockerboy turned terrorist that blew up Arasaka Tower over fifty years ago. And he is slowly destroying my own neural network, taking over my body in the process, killing me. I’m working on trying to separate us, as taking the chip out would definitely kill me again, so that’s not an option. But… it’s recently gotten to the point, where these malfunctions I’m experiencing are getting worse and more frequent. So are the blackouts, when I lose control of my body, with Johnny taking over. I know, that there were times you called me and he was behind the wheel and decided not to answer. He’s not a fan of cops, to say the least.”</p><p>I felt so much lighter, all of a sudden. Saying this helped, even though I knew that I only managed to confuse the poor man. He was just blinking at me, his mouth moving, but not saying anything. He didn’t know what to say, so I kept going.</p><p>“That’s why I… I tried to tell you before. To give you the option to back out and prevent us both from… From… B-but then you got shot, and all I could think about was how I really, really couldn’t lose you. In my apartment, I tried to put some distance between us… to give you an out, push you away before you got your heart broken. But I realized, that your heart would be breaking one way or another,” I added quietly as I turned towards him and cupped his face with a hand. “I can tell, that you cherish family and want one of your own. Maybe even with me, I don’t know. But I cannot give you what you want. I will never be able to give you what you want,” I kept going, my voice strained, all but a whisper. He nuzzled into my touch, as he closed his eye and took my hand in his, bringing it to his lips.</p><p>“Is there really no way, that you could live?” he asked me, as he put soft kisses on my knuckles.</p><p>“I have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow with Hanako Arasaka. I’ll help her bring her brother to justice if she agrees to help me. It is their tech, that’s killing me, after all. It’s risky, but at this point, without an access into Mikoshi to separate Johnny’s mind from my own… It’s all I have left to try.”</p><p>I could tell, that he wasn’t completely on board with the Hanako-plan, as he frowned. “Are you sure, she would be willing to help?”</p><p>“I don’t know, River. I don’t know. But what other options do I have? I’ve tried everything else. I’m out of ideas.”</p><p>“A few days?” he asked for confirmation. I nodded. “I wish you’d told me sooner.”</p><p>“I thought I had more time,” I confessed, as I turned to him fully, touching his other cheek. “I thought we would have more time.” I took a shaky breath. “I’m yours tonight, if you still want me after all you’ve learnt. If you still think a dying woman is worth your feelings and the effort.”</p><p>“V…”</p><p>“Because I understand if you don’t want me anymore. I’m practically worthless by now,” I interrupted him. He made a face that I recognized as incredulity. </p><p>Then he was kissing me, pulling me close to himself to wrap me in his arms, as he liked to do so. His organic hand was on my ass, squeezing lightly as he pulled me close enough for our bodies to be flush against each other, and the cybernetic rested at the back of my neck to keep my head steady. The feeling of his lips against mine awakened my body, all the primal urges buried deep within. It wasn’t enough. I needed more.</p><p>I moaned into the kiss as I arched my body against him to let him know what I wanted. And he went ahead, and did the opposite, pulling away from me. I caught myself whining at the loss. It was a pathetic sound, but I didn’t care.</p><p>“You are not worthless,” he told me sternly. “Don’t you dare say that again.” He kissed me again, for but a moment. “You are kind, empathetic, passionate, intelligent, competent, badass, incredible and I’m just going to keep going with these until you believe me. Worthless is not among the words I would use to describe you.” Another kiss, to punctuate what he was saying. Our foreheads were touching still when we parted once more. “And you are going to live, V, because I need you to. This one night won’t be enough. A lifetime wouldn’t be enough,” he whispered. “My feelings for you are too far gone for it to be enough,” he confessed, giving me another gentle kiss. My heart was already hammering in my chest by that point, with nearly deafening sound to my own ears. I was almost shaking in anticipation.</p><p>His hands fell away from me as he rose to his knees, then his feet, holding a hand out for me to grab. I took it, and he pulled me up bringing me close again, a breath away. He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him with a hungry kiss, causing him to laugh.</p><p>“But in the case that this is indeed one of your last nights ever, then I’m going to do everything I can to make it the best night you’ve ever had,” he managed to say once we parted, grabbed my hand and began towing me back to the ladder. I was more than eager to follow him.</p><p>It was all a blur, how we got to his bedroom. He was my sole focus, as he held my hand and pulled me after himself. We needed to be quiet, though, because by then the rest of his family were resting. Still, we were bound to make at least some noise during the night, and I wasn’t too keen on toning it down, but unfortunately was required to. </p><p>I was already out of my clothes by the time he locked his door, just waiting for him to turn around. He was startled as soon as he saw me, and looked extremely satisfied with what he was seeing. Every part of me that he looked at felt hot under his gaze the moment it landed, and I wanted to eye him the same way, so I sat up and invited him closer with a motion of my finger. He was in front of me soon, his hands lifting his tank top over his head, as I kissed his smooth skin right above his waistline, above his pants. I could see the bulge, his dick aching to be let out already, so I unbuckled his belt and pulled both his pants and boxers down, to be met with his dick, that was hardening by the second, already being half-hard. </p><p>I decided to expedite the process and closed my fingers around the base and slowly licked the head, all the while keeping eye-contact with River. His body shuddered at the motion, and automatically thrusted into my hand. I smiled up at him as I began stroking, achingly slowly to build it all up.</p><p>“V,” he almost begged me. I just didn’t know what he was begging for. For me to keep going faster or just let him get to fucking me already?</p><p>I had a sinking feeling he was aching for more, so I gave it to him, as I slowly took the head into my mouth, flicking my tongue across for a few seconds, before I took him deep, as far as I could without gagging. I moaned around his cock to let him feel the reverb, before I began rhythmically bobbing my head, sucking him off for a minute or so. He was rock hard by that point. I could’ve stopped after a few seconds, but I enjoyed seeing his face distort in pleasure way too much to do that. </p><p>But I wanted him inside me already, so I grabbed him by the waist and pushed him down on the bed onto his back. I was leaving a trail of kisses on his muscular body as I crawled up to his neck, leaving a hickey behind as I kept going, kissing along his jaw as I straddled him, grinding against his dick. His hands were already grabbing my ass to help position me as I straightened up and held myself up with my hands on his pecs, then I lowered myself until he was deep inside me. He was a perfect fit, filling me perfectly.</p><p>We both moaned, as I remained sitting, but slowly moved my hips to build the tension and pleasure already present. His voice was louder than mine, so I quickly put a hand over his mouth to quiet him.</p><p>“Shh,” I soothed him as I picked up the pace, wanting more of this. He grunted, keeping eye contact with me.</p><p>God, it’s been so long since I had sex with someone I actually had a meaningful connection with. It was… Perfect. </p><p>I moaned his name as I closed my eyes as I threw my head back, riding him faster and faster, the bed squeaking under our combined weight and activity. And he wasn’t satisfied with this, he wanted to be more active, I could tell as he was keeping a tight grip on my thighs, thrusting upwards, going deeper and deeper into me. </p><p>God, he was going to make me come in a matter of minutes, if he kept it up. </p><p>Maybe that was his intention? Because he was sitting up soon, kissing me wildly, lifting me up, holding my ass while he was still inside me. We were off the bed the next second, as he pushed me up against the window, the coldness of it immediately sending shivers down my hot skin. He was still kissing me, until he pulled out of me only for as long as it took him to turn me around and thrust into me again. </p><p>I moaned, louder than I wanted to, and his hand was already on my mouth.</p><p>“Shh,” he repeated what I told him, whispering, then his hands were on my tits, cupping them in his large hands, and he was thrusting again, making me moan continuously as I looked at his reflection, smiling at him. He was smiling right back and kissed my neck.</p><p>It wasn’t enough for either of us, he was turning me around again. Our lips met immediately, crashing together, our tongues dancing wildly around each other, as he pushed my back against the window again, thrusting into me, groaning and moaning into my mouth. I quickly wrapped my legs around him when his hands were gone from my ass and on my back instead.</p><p>Our lips parted from each other and we just breathed heavily, both our chests heaving once he stopped, pulled out and grabbed me again. I thought he would take me back to the bed, but we didn’t get there, ending up on the floor, with me at the bottom. I smiled at him before he slid his hands to my thighs, opening me wide for him, for his practiced tongue as he decided on pleasuring me with it for a little bit, finding just the right spot to bring me close to the orgasm I craved desperately by that point, my back arching, my hips buckling with each flick of his tongue.</p><p>River must’ve sensed it, because he stopped what he was doing. Embarrassing or not, I whined at the loss, eliciting a chuckle from him as he moved on to my tits, gently sucking on one as his fingers continued what his dick began. It soon came full circle, though. He was kissing my lips again, pushing into me with a gentle rhythm that was making me crazy, writhing underneath him, arching up against him.</p><p>“Faster,” I rumbled the second our lips parted.</p><p>“Yes, ma’am,” he obliged eagerly, picking up the pace again.</p><p>I barely needed another minute, I was biting down on my lower lip to stop myself from screaming out in pleasure, whining as colors exploded behind my shut eyes, as my body shivered with the mind-shattering orgasm I was having. He stopped for a brief moment, to just feel my vagina twitch around his cock, as waves of sensations washed over me, but he was going again soon, with my hands holding onto his shoulders tightly. </p><p>I giggled, murmuring soft words of encouragement to him, that I’m pretty sure were just a jumble of incoherent mess, but I didn’t give a crap. I was drunk on pleasure and I just wanted to drive him over the edge the same way he drove me. He soon was, as he moaned my name with his eye closed, his thrusts became faster and deeper and then he was filling me as he finally came inside me. A moment later, he collapsed onto me, completely spent and boneless, and it was a sight to behold. </p><p>We stayed like that for a good minute, breathing heavily, with my hands caressing his back and his wrapped around my body, and his head on my shoulder, just resting. I laughed again, as I wrapped my arms around his neck once he lifted it off me. Not even a second later, he was kissing me again, then pulled out of me and collapsed onto his side next to me. I cupped his jaw with a hand, running my thumb across his full lips. I was snuggled against his chest in the next moment, just about ready to fall asleep right there and then. </p><p>But I really needed a shower first. </p><p>I could tell that he was almost asleep when I pushed myself away slightly. “Is there a towel, or a rag, or something I could use?” I asked him. He just hummed, so content with how he was laying there. “I need a shower and I’d rather not… leak on my way to the bathroom.” His eye opened to that, a grin plastered on his face. </p><p>He was so satisfied with himself. And rightly so. He was incredible.</p><p>“I got a much better idea,” he said as he got to his knees and lifted me up into his strong arms into a bridal carry, immediately heading for the door. “I also need a shower, so…” he continued as he cracked the door open just enough to see if the coast was clear. There was no one in sight, so we were out of his room swiftly and in the bathroom the next second. </p><p>It was kind of exciting, how I knew we shouldn’t have been out there, completely naked, when there were others in the trailer, but it’s what made it fun. The thrill of maybe getting caught. What I forgot about momentarily, was that two of those people that could catch us were minors, his own family members at that, but I was still riding high on pleasure and my mind wasn’t caught up completely just yet. </p><p>I was pressed against the wall of the shower soon, as we both squeezed into the small cabin. River found just the right temperature for us, then kissed me briefly before he found some shower gel for us to use. It smelt flowery. Nice.</p><p>“Want some assistance?” he asked me, needlessly, because his hands were already running over my skin, finding every nook and cranny, stopping in a few places. Namely my ass, between my legs and on my tits. </p><p>“You just can’t get enough of me, can you?” I answered with a question of my own. </p><p>“I don’t think I ever will,” he murmured, as he kissed me again. His hands were still doing their best to spread the shower gel everywhere.</p><p>My head was throbbing again, but I chalked it up to exhaustion after such an eventful night. Then the coughing fit came.</p><p>“Fuck,” I groaned as I tried my best to mask the coughs.</p><p>River was distracted enough by my body not to notice until then, how I was practically shaking. “Well, if you are good to…” He trailed off as his gaze stopped on my face, the lopsided smile gone that instant. “V?” he called out to me, concerned.</p><p>I just coughed, pushed him out of the way because I didn’t want to bloody him, and got out of the shower to lean over the sink, coughing up blood, as it was getting more frequent. My arms were shaking as I reached out to the faucet to open the water-flow to wash the blood down the drain. I needed a minute for the urge to cough stop, and by then, a dry towel was wrapped around my body and River was standing behind me, preventing me from collapsing. </p><p>“I’m sorry, that you had to witness this,” I croaked, my throat sore and voice weak, as I leant back against him with my whole weight. “I really wish you hadn’t.”</p><p>He didn’t give me a reaction, but I could tell, that he was worried. I saw his expression in the mirror, as he watched me. He already looked like he was grieving. </p><p>That was probably the moment he realized just how far I’m gone. It was hard for him to deny my condition, to continue holding out hope that there was a possibility for me to get better.</p><p>He shut his eye as he leant his head forward, pushing a light kiss on my shoulder.</p><p>“Can you walk?”</p><p>“Yeah. I can make it back to your bed. Or… do you want me to leave?” </p><p>“Of course, not!” he answered fiercely, like someone that cannot fathom how I could ask something so idiotic. “Come on, you need the rest.” He decided against letting me walk on my own, and lifted me into a bridal carry again, only putting me down again when we got back to his bed. He gently lowered me onto it and closed the door. “Do you need anything to drink? Eat?”</p><p>“I’m good, thanks,” I gave him a weak smile. That was all he needed, he was already going around the bed to crawl under the sheet next to me. I unwrapped the towel and joined him, snuggling close.</p><p>The only thing I thought about before I fell asleep was that how easy it would be to get used to this. Going to bed with someone I… With someone I love. Was this love? Was this really what it felt like? This… this appreciation and care and warmth and all the fuzziness I could handle. More, than I could handle. </p><p>Fuck, I just wanted to spend some more time with him. A few more weeks of this. A few more months. Years. Decades? …A lifetime? </p><p>And all I get is one night.</p><p>How can life be so cruel? </p><p>But maybe I deserve it? I’d killed a lot of people. Maybe this was life’s way of telling me that I chose the wrong profession. But what else would’ve I done? This was what I was good at. Killing. Was I proud of it? Certainly not. But we don’t always get to choose what we’re good at. Sometimes, we’re just born with it. I was unlucky enough to be born with a penchant and talent for violence and fighting. Did that make me such a bad individual that I needed to end on these cruel terms?</p><p>These thoughts, these questions kept me restless all night. I still slept better than I had in a long time, probably because of the strong body pushing up against me, holding me close. He was gone by the time I woke up, but I could hear him hum a tune from the kitchen. I blinked blearily, my eyes focusing on the half-naked River, as he was busy making coffee or breakfast or both. I yawned as I sat up, immediately noticing the tank top I was wearing. I didn’t remember putting it on and it wasn’t even mine, as I reminded myself. It was way too big for me and had a print on it that I needed a minute to decipher without taking it off.</p><p>I chuckled when I did. Fuck the police, indeed. A man with a sense of humor. </p><p>I quickly gathered my own clothes and put them on, but kept wearing the tank top as I approached him silently, ignoring Johnny’s displeasure completely, and greeted River with a kiss pushed to his neck. He tensed for but a second, as I managed to surprise him.</p><p>“You’re silent as ever,” he began as he turned around. “Good morning, V.” He gave me a heart-melting grin as he spotted, that I was still wearing his tank top. </p><p>I kissed him quickly, tasting coffee on him. “Morning, River. You know, I have a feeling you planned this,” I murmured to him, glancing down to the top. He just grinned. “I’m keeping it, whether you like it or not.”</p><p>“Looks way better on you, anyways. You were shivering all night, even under the covers, so I thought wearing another layer might help you. How are you feeling?” he asked me as he put the mug he was holding down and rested his hands on my hips, ready to pull me closer. </p><p>I grinned up at him. “Satisfied. Other than that,” I shrugged. “It’s not gonna get better if I don’t… What time is it?” I asked him, suddenly remembering my appointment with Hanako.</p><p>“Relax, it’s not even seven yet.” I deflated, nodding. I still had a few hours. “There’s coffee, if you want some and I can whip up some breakfast for you if you want it.” What did I do to deserve such kindness and caring?</p><p>“Both sound good,” I admitted. As soon as I did so, he was handing me a mug, filling it with fresh coffee, then moving on to make me something to eat. I couldn’t help but smile at him as he made breakfast for us both, then sat down at the table when he put the delicious smelling food in front of my nose. </p><p>I was eating with one hand and drinking with the other, but once my coffee was gone, I left the hand next to the empty mug. It didn’t take him long to intertwine our fingers in silence, as we ate. I could feel his constant gaze on me, that only trailed off when someone walked into the kitchen.</p><p>Turned out to be his sister, who wasn’t at all surprised to see me there, holding hands with her brother. But she was breaking our moment up, asking River to help her fix the generator outside. </p><p>“Give us a minute?” he asked her. She just understandingly nodded and walked out of the kitchen. He took a deep breath as he stood, cleaned the table and stopped next to me, crouching down to my level. “Notify me if anything happens, okay? Whether you found a solution or not. If you’re able, of course.”</p><p>“Okay,” I reacted simply, and I meant it. I wanted to make this as easy for him as I could.</p><p>He pulled me down for a way too brief kiss and touched our foreheads together after we parted. “You once told me, that you always keep your promises. So I need you to promise me something, V.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Promise me you’ll live. Promise me you’ll come back to me.”</p><p>“River…”</p><p>“Promise me,” he repeated himself, as he wrapped his hands around my biceps and shook me lightly. “Please,” he all but begged.</p><p>And how could I say no to him? “I promise,” I agreed, crashing my mouth to his again, probably for the last time ever. </p><p>A wave of relief washed over him, and he stood up, ready to repair the generator. I followed him outside, said goodbye to Joss, and got into the Porsche, ready to meet Hanako.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Now, I know, that I changed a few things, namely telling River way more than V told him in the game, but it felt right. V is struggling with her own mortality, and really needed to just spit it out to him, to lay all the cards out before spending the night together.<br/>If you made it this far, then thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! ^^</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Don't Fear the Reaper - Fear Her</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The last chapter of this story. The ending of the game, with additional content after.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry it took this long, had two exams this week. (Got best grade on the first, don't know the result of the second just yet.) <br/>Buuuut, the last chapter's arrived, and I wrote, deleted, then rewrote parts of it, because I wasn't satisfied. I did my best, so I hope you'll enjoy it! ^^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>V</h2>
<p>For the first time in what felt like forever, I drove the car safely, abiding by the laws of traffic, even stopping at red lights. I simply didn’t trust myself anymore with dangerous situations. A tragedy could’ve happened if the Relic malfunctioned during my drive and I could’ve easily run over innocent pedestrians. So, I took it slow, as I made my way over to Embers, about half an hour before the designated meeting time. </p>
<p>Two guards were posted at the entrance, a quick scan revealed that they were both employed by Arasaka. It seems I wasn’t the only one that was early. I didn’t go in, though, instead just paced up and down, trying to pull myself together. Because it felt like I was falling apart and River wasn’t around to pull me against his body and wrap his arms around me to keep me together. </p>
<p>I likely wouldn’t even see him again. </p>
<p>I wanted to. Damn it, I wanted to! </p>
<p>A promise was made, my word was given. I had to keep it. I didn’t have many codes in my life, but promises were sacred. Promises needed to be kept.</p>
<p>But would I be able to keep the one that mattered the most? Probably not, judging by the way I was feeling.</p>
<p>Five minutes before our appointment, I strolled up to the guards, who immediately waved me inside the elevator. I didn’t have the patience for Johnny, as he kept talking next to me, telling me how bad of an idea this was. Neither of us had a better idea, so I told him to shut it. </p>
<p>Upstairs, I was greeted by another guard, and an entirely empty bar. Hanako didn’t want to be disturbed. Good. That meant, that this was serious business for both of us.</p>
<p>She finished playing the piano as I stood next to her, and before I could have complimented her skill, she turned to me, smiling politely and got straight to business as she stood. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about her brother, his intentions, their family’s plans for them both. The only thing that mattered was the small information she let slip. </p>
<p>That there was a way into Mikoshi through Arasaka Tower in Night City. Everything else she said, I didn’t care about. Turned out, I didn’t need her help, after all. All I had to do was get to Arasaka Tower, head down to the lower levels and jack into it. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was doable.</p>
<p>Of course, I told her, that I needed some time to think her offer through, but just as I said it, her gaze was on my bleeding nose, reminding me of the fact that it was bleeding again, and I was running out of time. As if I didn’t know that. </p>
<p>I was swaying on my legs until I got to the elevator, but soon collapsed and leant back against the wall of it. Johnny was way too eager to take control of my body, as he offered to enlist Rogue’s help with storming the Tower. I wanted to argue, that Panam offered to help, too, but the thought that any of the Aldecaldos could die on that mission and most likely would made me keep this idea to myself. </p>
<p>Hanako’s way was out of the question. I wasn’t about to sell my soul to the devil just to get a chance at living a long life. To be indebted to Arasaka… It could’ve ended way worse than simple death.</p>
<p>Giving up control to Johnny again… What if… What if he wouldn’t be able to get out of my body once he jacks into Mikoshi? What if he would remain, since he happened to be the one in control at the time? I couldn’t… I just couldn’t let that happen. I wanted to live. I needed to. I made a promise.</p>
<p>But I was blacking out again, in the elevator, only awakening some time later in Vik’s clinic. I was feeling like shit. My head was throbbing, my limbs didn’t want to follow my commands, my vision was unstable, glitching constantly. Perhaps permanently. </p>
<p>I took the pills Vik and Misty provided, but left the gun. I had my own, I didn’t need it. Killing myself was out of the question. I wasn’t that hopeless yet. I was getting there, but until I could still stand on my feet, until I could hear my own thoughts, use my own body, I wasn’t about to do it.</p>
<p>Still, there was a possibility that I wouldn’t be coming back to my friends ever again. Vik knew that, that’s why he didn’t object to me pushing a small kiss onto his cheek after I said my goodbye. I used to do that a lot to him, just because I knew how much he hated it. He wasn’t a fan of physical affection, the grumpy old man. But he was like the cool uncle I never knew I needed until I got to the city. </p>
<p>I was going to say my piece to Misty, too, when she had other ideas and took me up to the roof, away from the noise of the city. It was peaceful up there, as we sat and talked about Jackie. We both missed him dearly, but there was a chance I’d meet him soon enough. He would immediately scold me for being this stupid, following him so soon to the grave, then hug me with those bear arms of his, lifting me up to spin me around. Then he would grin at me, welcoming me onboard once again. </p>
<p>Johnny and I were alone again, as Misty knew, I had a lot to think through. Johnny told me, that I should make a few calls, to people that mattered to me. Several came to mind, but what would I have even told them? </p>
<p>‘Hey, just calling to say goodbye because I’m about to do something extremely stupid that will most likely end with my death?’ Simply didn’t cut it. So I didn’t call anyone. Not even River. I already said my goodbye to him in the morning, there was no need to bring this issue into the forefront of his mind again. </p>
<p>We ended up deciding to go out on our own terms, go down fighting. Together, with me in control. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, Misty was waiting downstairs, anxiously biting her nails. She all but pushed herself away from the wall, awkwardly fidgeting with her hands as she watched me approach. I just smiled at her and hugged her.</p>
<p>“Take care, Misty. And take care of Vik, too. The grumpy old man needs someone to be there for him,” I told her as she threatened to squeeze the life out of me.</p>
<p>“You’re not planning on coming back, are you?” she asked me, her voice nothing but a whisper.</p>
<p>“I am. But my plans have a tendency to go wrong,” I answered as I pulled away, wiped the tears off her face and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Take care, sister.” She just nodded as she sniffled and stepped back, wiping the rest of her tears away. </p>
<p>“I will, V. I will.” </p>
<p>I gave her one last smile before I made my way to the Porsche, got in, and drove to Arasaka Tower. I gathered all the ammo I could carry, fastening ammo bags and belts to my outfit, took all the meds I could from the stash in the trunk of the car, then the fun began.</p>
<p>I strolled right into the tower like I owned the place, with the security guard just staring at me in sheer amazement. The lobby had several more guards loitering around, who were immediately made aware of my arrival as their buddy was already laying on the ground, his head missing from his neck as my mantis blade made short work of it. </p>
<p>Several of my enemies came at me with katanas, and while I fended them off, I drove one of the shooters to suicide, and the other to go complete bonkers on everyone around himself. I wasn’t his first target. It happened to be the rushing backup, who were more than confused when they were getting shot by one of their own. </p>
<p>My closest enemies were dead soon enough, and so were the backup that arrived. I chose the right person to drive crazy, it seemed, as he did a quick and efficient job. I rewarded him with a bullet to the brain and moved on, getting deeper inside the Tower. </p>
<p>By that point, all of Arasaka was on high alert, dropping mechs down to my level, thinking I was defenseless against them. I short circuited one of them as I threw an EMP grenade at their feet, instantly disabling the one I hurt before. I took cover, then repeated what I did with the first, frying the second’s circuitry. Two of Arasaka’s goons were unlucky enough to stand near the exploding mech. One of them got bisected by the sharp shrapnel, leaving nothing but his legs standing for a moment before those collapsed as well and the other was thrown off balance by the shockwave of the explosion, falling straight at the planter nearby, breaking his neck on the edge. I could see his spine sticking out of his corpse.</p>
<p>More backup was on the way, and I let them approach, as I wasn’t feeling well, the notification of the Relic malfunctioning always being in my eyesight. I needed to hurry, my health was deteriorating faster than anticipated.</p>
<p>I gunned my way across to the elevator, but naturally, it needed an access token to open. I didn’t exactly have time to fish through the pockets of the people I killed, since more enemies were pouring out of the half dozen elevators, all of them big guys with their big guns. I turned one of them into a cyberpsycho, frenzying the others around him and got to mowing through those that wanted to chop my head off. They were fast, I had to give it to them. One of them even managed to make a nasty cut on my side, nearly running me through with her blade. My only luck was that I was faster and dodged in time. Still, I needed to be more careful. I couldn’t bleed out before getting to Mikoshi. </p>
<p>Eventually, all the fuckers were dead and I was alone, holding my bleeding side as I scanned the bodies, looking for an access token. I found one soon enough. Just as I activated the elevator, another mech was dropped and the piece of shit managed to shoot me through the crack as the door was closing. It was only a graze on my arm, but fuck, I was in enough pain already, I didn’t need more!</p>
<p>The elevator stopped at Arasaka’s netrunner operations, where we guessed the access point would be. Of course, the whole building was on high alert, deploying all security measures they had. I barely turned the corner and was met with a turret, that I promptly made friends with, allowing it to shoot through several of the people that were just patiently waiting for it to shred me. Amateurs.</p>
<p>I made it past the turret in no time, breaching the camera to shut down all others and make the turrets friendly, and continued my way into the heart of the facility, gunning and cutting and using my cyberware to the best of my abilities. </p>
<p>Oh, the sweet sound the dozen mechs made as they blew to smithereens as another one of my EMP grenades detonated near them… Music to my ears. As were the screams of my enemies, as some took shrapnel to the eye, dying mid-scream, another got a hand cut off and was still screaming in agony, sinking to his knees, clutching the chunk that remained. I quickly put him out of his misery as I jumped down to their level and continued my way through.</p>
<p>My aim was precise, as ever, as I didn’t bother taking cover until I had to reload my revolver. Several shots, all kills. Even dying, I was still as deadly as ever. Maybe even more so. Desperation was a hell of a motivator.</p>
<p>I made it into the control room, where Johnny pointed out the possible access point. We only had to reveal it. If only it didn’t take even more time. Time, I was quickly running out of, as my breathing was getting heavier, not even adrenaline compensating for the loss of blood. </p>
<p>Fuck. </p>
<p>And it was a long process, with several more goons swarming me, intending to bring me down. I didn’t let them. I systematically wiped them out, leaving none alive to be able to tell the tale later. Then I was down there, giving access to Alt, as my vision was reddening, the Relic continuously malfunctioning. That warning was getting quite annoying, to be honest.</p>
<p>Johnny’s old flame was soon in control of the whole facility, giving us access to Mikoshi itself, opening the way for us. She was also nice enough to warn us of the elite security force that was fast approaching our position, but instead of opening the last door to expedite our process, she wasn’t doing shit. </p>
<p>I was forced to do that all by myself, as that elite force caught up to me and turned out to be Adam fucking Smasher. I really, really wasn’t in the right health to fight him, as I could feel myself weakening by every step I took, by every time I ducked into cover just to stay out of the view of the rockets that honed in on my position. One got me in the thigh, another in my side, going through even the bulletproof layer. </p>
<p>Fuck me.</p>
<p>Well, I was aware that this was likely a suicide mission...</p>
<p>The cheating bastard called for help once I managed to damage him enough, but I easily disposed of both the Arasaka goons and the mechs. The bigger challenge was Smasher himself, as I needed to keep moving to keep out of his sights, waiting for my cyberware to load enough RAM for me to hit him with a Synapse Burnout. But when the RAM was depleted again, I started chucking EMP grenades his way, hindering his movement. </p>
<p>I only noticed, that he was down, when there was no more machinegun-fire, nor any smart projectiles heading my way. I limped out of the cover and approached his kneeling figure, telling him that Johnny sent his regards before shooting him in the head. </p>
<p>He had the access token I needed to open the door, and finally gain access to Mikoshi, so I took it, and made my way there, slowly, leaning on the wall. I was really not feeling well by that point, and Johnny did his best to encourage me to keep pushing forward. My legs gave out twice, and I all but crawled to the access point before I jacked in, then submerged myself in the coolant. I was hoping I wouldn’t bleed out while my mind was separated from my body.</p>
<p>I soon found myself in the soul prison of Arasaka and found Johnny after a minute of walking. He decided to stay true to his word, letting me keep my body, while he went with Alt beyond the Blackwall after destroying Mikoshi. Alt informed me, that I would likely be weak for quite some time after I got out of the Tower, as my body would need time to heal, and most of my implants would need to be replaced, as jacking into Mikoshi like this was straining on everything. I didn’t fucking care. I just hugged Johnny, and much to my surprise, he hugged back, before he all but shoved me down the well, right back into my cooling body.</p>
<p>I was alive. Luckily, the coolant helped stem the bleeding, so I still had some time left until eventual death.</p>
<p>“Del,” I called Delamain. I wouldn’t be able to focus on driving. He answered in a second.</p>
<p>“V. How can I be of assistance?”</p>
<p>“I need you to send one of your cabs to my location. I’m in no shape to drive,” I told him, as I sent him my coordinates.</p>
<p>“I will be there shortly,” he assured me.</p>
<p>“Thanks, Del,” I told him as I slowly sat up, climbed out of the coolant, and jacked out of the mainframe, letting Alt do what she wanted to do. I also rang Vik, because I needed his help again. “Vik,” I croaked as I began limping my way back to the way I came. “I hope you’re not asleep yet, because I could really use your help.”</p>
<p>“V, there’s nothing else I can do for you.” Why was I not surprised, that he sounded annoyed?</p>
<p>“Nah, I’m good on that front. Johnny’s gone permanently. I’m just in the middle of bleeding out. Turns out, fighting through Arasaka Tower on my own isn’t like a walk in the park.”</p>
<p>“Fuck, V,” he muttered. “I’ll be by the clinic as soon as I can. Don’t you dare die until you get there, kid!”</p>
<p>“What? I’ll be allowed to die only then?” I asked back, trying to sound like myself, but my voice was way too weak. And I still had a long way to go. I was really hoping I wouldn’t meet any more resistance.</p>
<p>“You’re not allowed to die at all,” he sternly told me. “You managed to save yourself despite everything, so you’re not allowed to just bleed out like a common person. Hang in there, kid.”</p>
<p>“I’m trying, Vik. I’m trying. But it’s so hard to put one foot after the other. So damn hard,” I told him, breathing heavily. And I was only barely out of the hallway. </p>
<p>“If anyone can do it, it’s you. Fight, kiddo.”</p>
<p>“No, no more fighting for today, Vik. I’ve killed enough for one night,” I said as my legs gave out and I collapsed onto a dead body. I was so dizzy I almost apologized. I hadn’t even realized before that Vik had already hung up and I was talking to myself. </p>
<p>Not good.</p>
<p>Fuck. I wasn’t going to make it.</p>
<p>Of course. Why would I? Save myself only to die five minutes later. Why the fuck not? </p>
<p>But I was still going, dragging myself towards the entrance fifteen minutes later. I made a promise I needed to keep. I must’ve killed everyone in the Tower, since no one stood in my way as I limped into the lobby, already seeing Delamain just patiently waiting there for me. He was nice, opening the nearest door for me as I got close. I just faceplanted onto the backseat, not even bothering to keep up appearances. </p>
<p>“Take me to Viktor Vektor’s clinic as fast as you can. Call him if I lose consciousness during the ride, okay?”</p>
<p>“As you wish. If you’d please sit and buckle up, that would be splendid.”</p>
<p>“Not happening, Del. Just started speeding to the clinic. Now. Unless you want me to bleed out and die here.”</p>
<p>“I would not want that, no. We are on the way, V. Hold out a little longer.”</p>
<p>“No promises.”</p>
<p>There was that word again. Promise. Such a simple, but meaningful word. </p>
<p>If only I could keep mine.</p>
<p>But I wouldn’t be able to. I knew that by the time I couldn’t keep my eyes open and the radio was nothing but background noise to my ears. And I didn’t even have enough strength left to write him a message or even call him. So, apologizing to him in my own head had to be enough.</p>
<p>
  <em>Sorry, River. For putting you through this. You deserved more. Better. Sorry, this relationship between us ended even before it could really begin. Just... sorry.</em>
</p>
<p>The world was blackening around me, the noise of the radio was non-existent, and I was unaware of what was happening, having lost all feeling in my body. Was I even breathing still? Was I still holding on, clinging desperately to what little strength I still had inside my body? Or is this what death was like? Nothingness all around, no feelings, no sensations. Just nothing.</p>
<p>It was quite peaceful, though. No noise filtered through from the busy city, no stench filled my nostrils from the filthy streets, and no pain held me back. </p>
<p>There was nothing. </p>
<p>I was at peace. After a month of suffering through a series of fuck-ups and misfortune, I was alone, drifting through nothingness with a body lighter than ever.</p>
<p>But I couldn’t protest when desperate voices kept calling out to me, trying to yank me out of this peaceful tranquility. I could feel the pull of whatever they were using to get me to respond, to wake me from my slumber. I didn’t want to wake. I was exhausted. I just wanted to rest. </p>
<p>Would they let me rest if I awoke? Or would they keep talking to me to get my attention? </p>
<p>They were familiar. The voices. I trusted them. </p>
<p>Why shouldn’t I wake, then? Surely, it was safe to do so. The voices were those of friends. </p>
<p>Why shouldn’t I let go of the darkness, the nothingness I was clinging to as if it was the only thing left for me? I still had friends, who were like a family to me, fighting to keep me alive. </p>
<p>There was no point in resisting their calling. No need. </p>
<p>I was alive. Surrounded by trusted friends.</p>
<p>And that was going to stay that way. As it should be.</p>
<p>The first breath I took was shallow, but a deeper one followed, as a System Rebooting notification appeared behind my closed eyelids, that I soon opened, as my body stabilized, all feeling returning to it. There was pain. Holy fuck, there was a lot of pain. But that was good. I was alive.</p>
<p>And I was crying, the tears flowing down my cheeks as my vision managed to focus on Vik, who was squeezing a hand of mine, burying his face into it. Misty stood behind him, hugging him to comfort him, her face pushed against his back, facing away from me. Were they... Were they mourning me? It seemed like it.</p>
<p>“Hi,” I managed to croak and they both jumped at the sound of my voice, Misty letting out a small sob of relief, and Vik was looking over to the screen to his right to make sure his ears and eyes weren’t lying to him. “Not. Dead. Yet. Vik,” I pushed out as I focused on the ripperdoc. His outfit was stained with blood. Mine, I presumed.</p>
<p>“More like not dead anymore,” he grumbled as he let go of my hand and gave all his attention to the screen. Misty quickly took his place. I groaned as I tried to move. “Stop moving, for crying out loud! I barely managed to stitch you up and you already want to rip it all open,” he kept grumbling, as grumpy as ever.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” I told him as I stopped fidgeting and just watched his profile. He was staring at the screen with furrowed brows, not understanding something he was seeing.</p>
<p>“Hmm,” was the only reaction he gave, before he was jamming a needle into my arm, pushing something into my vein. “By all accounts, you shouldn’t be alive. Rest now, V, while I figure it all out.”</p>
<p>I thought it best not to argue with him and even if I decided to, I was out within a minute. That was probably for the best.</p>
<h2>River</h2>
<p>He didn’t want to believe his ears, when he heard her quiet voice on top of the water tower. How utterly broken it sounded. Suddenly, it all made sense. How she deflected his attempts to learn who she was trying to save. She didn’t want to tell him.</p>
<p>He was glad, that she did. She just could’ve told him sooner, when they still had some time to spend together until the inevitable. Even if not together-together, just hanging out with her would’ve been enough for him. To see her, hear her voice.</p>
<p>But even after they had sex, he was holding out hope, that she was lying to him about her condition. It wouldn’t have been like her, but seeing her bleed and sway on her legs in the bathroom was way worse, than if she did lie to him. </p>
<p>He was going to lose her in a matter of days. That’s all he could think about all night, even though he was exhausted and needed the rest. His mind was just wondering, as he hugged the shivering woman to himself, how he could be so unlucky as to fall in love with a dying woman, with no happy ending in sight. No chance for a relationship between them to work. </p>
<p>Her shivers were getting worse, so he quickly tiptoed out of the bed, looking through his clothes that remained in the closet. He had moved most to his apartment in the city, leaving only a few behind. One of them was a tank top that Joss’ husband gave him. They never came to like each other very much.</p>
<p>River smirked down at it. Fuck the police. How fitting for V. Technically it was the police fucking her, but River doubted she would argue the point. She was so deep in slumber, that she didn’t even notice as he pulled it over her head, then crawled back behind her, holding her close to warm her up. He suspected her coldness was likely a byproduct of her worsening condition, but as he had no proof, he aimed to make the night’s rest as comfortable for her as he could. She deserved it.</p>
<p>She would’ve deserved more. </p>
<p>Starting with a long life. Preferably with him by her side.</p>
<p>He sighed into her hair. It was a waste to think about what could have been. He didn’t even know if she would’ve preferred something more substantial, something long-term. She alluded to it, but… He didn’t know. He just didn’t know anything anymore. </p>
<p>He was up early in the morning, as per usual, and he nearly walked out of his room in his birthday suit before remembering that they weren’t in his apartment. He got himself into some comfortable pants and dragged himself into the kitchen, having nothing else but a strong coffee in mind. He was already sipping it when V snuck up on him and he was damned lucky, that half of the coffee was gone from the mug, so he couldn’t pour it all over himself.</p>
<p>She looked happy. She looked like the woman he met nearly a month ago. Cheeky and chipper. A stark contrast to what she became. He was more than satisfied with himself, that he managed to give her something great amongst all the pain she had been experiencing lately.  </p>
<p>River was clueless, regarding how to part ways with her. Mostly because he didn’t want to. He wanted her to live, to survive, as she usually did. But it wasn’t up to him, she didn’t need his help. He simply couldn’t offer anything, that would’ve helped her. </p>
<p>Anything, but maybe a goal. A promise, that he wanted her to keep more than he ever wanted anything in his life. For a few moments, he thought that she would say no, that she would opt out of agreeing to making a promise she likely wouldn’t be able to keep. But she promised him, sealing it with a kiss, that he found too brief, too shallow.</p>
<p>Then she was gone, and he was left alone with Joss, the generator, and his thoughts.</p>
<p>“Judging by your face, I’m guessing things didn’t go according to plan,” Joss began a few silent minutes later. </p>
<p>He scoffed. “I’m probably not gonna see her again,” he confessed, as he tried to fix that blasted thing. But even it was conspiring against him. He fixed one part, another blew out. Infuriating.</p>
<p>“Why? What I saw in the kitchen painted a different picture. You were holding hands, River. If she viewed you as a one-night stand, then…”</p>
<p>“She’s dying, Joss, with a few days left to live,” he interrupted her.</p>
<p>Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his sister push herself away from the wall she was leaning against. “She’s what?”</p>
<p>He sighed. “You heard me. This one night is all we could get. I’m probably not even going to hear from her again. She’s going to be busy today. Busy trying the last option she can think of to save her own life.”</p>
<p>“Shit, Riv, I’m sorry. I know, that she’s come to mean a lot to you. And seeing how she was looking at you, she feels the same way about you.” He just hummed. </p>
<p>How V was looking at him… How her grey eyes were shining like stars on the night sky, as she was under him, how her entire body arched against his own as he thrusted deep into her, a feeling he had long thought forgotten. She was perfect. Such a fierce woman in such a delicate body, that he simply couldn’t get enough of. He wanted to run his tongue along the intricate pattern of her tattoo, to taste her silky skin, to capture her seductive lips between his own. To make love to her again, for long hours, until her pleasure was his and vice versa.</p>
<p>He wanted to wake up next to her, spent and almost more exhausted than when they went to bed. He wanted to have breakfast with her, go on rides around the city, solve cases together, visit some bars, get takeout at the place she mentioned before…</p>
<p>Wanted.</p>
<p>That word became the most common word he used since he met her. But it was true enough. He just wanted her, the way she was, to spend time with her. Romantically or not, it didn’t matter. Of course, he would’ve preferred that, but simply hanging out with V would’ve been enough for him. He was already craving her presence.</p>
<p>Only that wasn’t happening. So he kept on trying to fix the generator, with Joss lingering nearby, until she heard the twins run around the house, probably looking for breakfast. She left him alone then, to his thoughts. The generator was done soon enough, and with nothing left for him to do, he joined his family in the trailer, with the kids instantly greeting him with full mouths, grinning at him, waving their forks his way. </p>
<p>He tried his best to put a mask on for them and greet them like everything was fine. </p>
<p>“Where’s V? Is she going to have dinner with us again?” Monique asked him. Sweet, innocent Monique. What was he supposed to tell them?</p>
<p>“Uhm, n-no.” The kids didn’t need to know. “She’s… uh… busy,” he pushed out, not sounding convincing enough, by how Joss was rolling her eyes.</p>
<p>“Aww. Maybe tomorrow, then?” she kept trying. They really liked her. V managed to charm his entire family in a matter of days. Kindness does that. </p>
<p>“Maybe,” he agreed, hoping that I would be so. By some miracle.</p>
<p>“And when is Randy coming home?” Dorian asked them as he pushed his mug of tea around the table, uninterested in actually drinking any of it. </p>
<p>“Should be in the next couple days. Will you help me clean around his trailer?” Joss suddenly asked him. He knew, that she didn’t really need the help, but at least it would distract him from his problems. </p>
<p>He nodded. He was never too eager to clean, but he certainly could’ve used the distraction.</p>
<p>They spent the rest of the day cleaning Randy’s trailer with Joss, then he moved on to the other on his own, because tidying took up all of his mind, to make sure everything was spotless. He was meticulous when he wanted to be.</p>
<p>Soon enough, evening rolled around, and they were having dinner, with V’s chair empty in front of him. He couldn’t even stomach the food anymore and just wordlessly stood up, making his way over to the water tower again, to the top of it, and called V. </p>
<p>There was no response. No voicemail, no indication that there was even someone left on the other side of the call. But River couldn’t think about that. He couldn’t. </p>
<p>He gave up on the call, writing her a message instead. </p>
<p><em>NO USER FOUND</em>; the notification informed him.</p>
<p>He shut his eye and clenched his fists. She was already gone. Barely a day after they sat at the same spot where she told him everything, saying she still had a few days left. She miscalculated a little. </p>
<p>There was a sense of relief to it all, as he sat there, looking out over this cruel city. Knowing, that there was no use worrying about her anymore. No use wishing for her to find her way back to him, to his family. It simply didn’t matter anymore. His feelings didn’t matter anymore.</p>
<p>She was dead, and he couldn’t do a damned thing about it even if he tried. </p>
<p>All he could do was try to move on. Go on with his life. But why was it so damned hard? Why did her scent linger on the sheets still, even after a day? Being there, filling his nostrils with the promise of more to come. With the promise that she’d rest her head on that pillow again, smiling at him kindly, her eyes radiating love and affection. </p>
<p>He couldn’t sleep much at night. He found himself reaching out to something that wasn’t there, to the body that he could still envision; with the perfect curves that he loved running his fingers along. </p>
<p>In the morning, he stayed in bed for as long as the others let him, but a soft knock interrupted his leisure time right when he was about to doze off. He dragged himself out of bed, opening the door for Joss, who was giving him a sympathetic look as soon as she took a good look at him. </p>
<p>“Randy’s doctor just called,” she cut straight to the point. “We can bring him home this afternoon.”</p>
<p>River’s eye was wide open at that. “Already? I thought they said he’d need weeks to recover?”</p>
<p>“He still has a way to go, but they believe he could recover faster in a familiar environment. There will be some check-ups that are mandatory, of course. They also prescribed him some meds and already sent me everything I need to be able to buy all of it.”</p>
<p>“Uhum. Do you have the eddies to buy his meds?” Her suddenly guilty look said more than her words would. He sighed. He really needed to begin looking for another job. Or start that PI career he talked about. </p>
<p>“I’ll pay you back,” she assured him. He just didn’t know what she would pay him back from.</p>
<p>River hated her husband, how he got himself killed, leaving three kids behind for Joss to take care of on her own. She used to have a job, paid relatively well, but with three kids and no one to watch over them… Supporting them became River’s second job. They were family, of course, he would support them, but he had his own life he needed to live, too. His own expenses.</p>
<p>And with him being suspended… It wasn’t looking good for them. He needed to find another alternative for himself, and quick.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” he reacted as he pulled his shirt on. “We’ll get the meds before we get Randy. Did they say an exact time we needed to be there?”</p>
<p>“No. Only that it was to be in the afternoon,” he nodded as he yawned and pushed past her, heading towards the kitchen. He might as well start his day already. “You didn’t sleep well, did you?”</p>
<p>“Nope.”</p>
<p>“Did you call her?”</p>
<p>“Yup.”</p>
<p>“And? River, don’t make me pull it out of you with force.”</p>
<p>“And there was no answer, Joss. I sent her a message, too, only the system found no one to deliver it to.”</p>
<p>“It doesn’t necessarily mean, that—” she tried to pour some life into him. It wasn’t working.</p>
<p>“It’s exactly what it is. It was expected,” he told her coldly. He was just so tired of it all. </p>
<p>He poured himself some coffee, deciding to skip breakfast entirely. He didn’t have an appetite. </p>
<p>Joss sighed, seeing his closed-off stature, and comfortingly squeezed his organic hand before she went looking for her kids. River just stood there, leaning against the counter, and began planning what he was going to do. </p>
<p>He wasn’t going back to the police. He couldn’t stomach working with the likes of Han, the backstabbing bastard. Repurposing his apartment into an office could work, but it wasn’t in a neighborhood that was safe to do any kind of business in. So, he would have to look for another apartment/office, somewhere easily accessible to people. He would also need to work on building a reputation for himself, and that would not be quickly done.</p>
<p>He didn’t have the time to peruse the available apartments, no matter how much he wanted to, since taking his nephew home in time was priority. </p>
<p>River loitered around the trailer, even playing a game with the kids, before he and Joss set off to buy Randy’s meds and pick him up from the hospital. He tried to tell Joss, that by afternoon, the doctor likely meant around 3 or 4 pm, and not five minutes after noon, but she wouldn’t hear it. Then she only complained to him as the medical staff made them wait, since they weren’t ready to release him yet.</p>
<p>They sat there for over three hours, doing nothing at all, and River busied himself with reading the various magazines strewn about the lobby. All were so damn boring. He even turned the TV on as the hourly news came on, and nearly choked on the water he happened to be sipping.</p>
<p>There was an assault on Arasaka Tower in the middle of the night, with dozens of Arasaka personnel ending up dead, the Secure Your Soul program utterly destroyed, and no one there to take credit for it all. All cameras inside that could have recorded the attackers were turned off. The only clue the press had was a Delamain taxi speeding away from the tower without a passenger visible in the seats. The remaining Arasaka employees were called in, giving chase to the taxi through the city, only to be waylaid by several more, identical looking taxis, that acted as decoys for the one that was at the tower. Eventually, they lost track of the cars altogether.</p>
<p>A spark of hope ignited deep within River’s chest. V told him, that she was going to Hanako Arasaka for help. Maybe it went wrong somehow, or maybe Hanako reneged on their deal. Or V did. It could’ve been her handiwork. And she mentioned, that she was friends with Delamain. Somehow. River still didn’t understand how she could’ve befriended an AI.</p>
<p>Could she be… Alive?</p>
<p>Was she not answering because of what she was doing? Maybe something within the tower interfered with the message system? </p>
<p>He was suddenly more than ready to dial her again, just as Joss pushed Randy through the door. He was too weak to walk, so he was in a wheelchair, that River tried to take hold of. His sister batted his hands away, adamant on helping her son by herself, and he didn’t argue with her. There was no use arguing with Joss when it was about her children.</p>
<p>“Uncle River,” Randy greeted him, warmer than ever before. Well, River did rescue him from certain death, so a little gratitude was in order. “Thanks again, for looking for me and getting me out of that place.”</p>
<p>River was so baffled by his nephew’s unusually heartfelt voice, that he almost didn’t react. “You’re welcome,” was what he settled on.</p>
<p>The boy smiled up at River as Joss continued pushing him towards the entrance door, that automatically opened before them. River hurried past to get the truck as close to them as he could, parking almost up on the sidewalk. Randy, to his credit, managed to hoist himself up onto the backseat without help.</p>
<p>They were off within a minute, with Joss making sure that her son was buckled up and secure, eliciting an exasperated eyeroll from the boy. But at least he wasn’t batting her hands away, as he would’ve certainly done before. River had a feeling this recent, not so pleasant experience he went through allowed him to reevaluate his life. There were bound to be some changes in his behavior, and River suspected for the better and not worse.</p>
<p>They were home within an hour, with the twins barreling straight towards the truck as soon as they stopped, surrounding their brother, attacking him with hugs immediately. River couldn’t help but smile at them. He didn’t even remember the last time he witnessed such a hug, since Randy became cold towards his family. Changes were inbound, indeed.</p>
<p>Joss couldn’t help herself and joined her children soon, motioning for him to do the same. He did, hugging Randy and Joss, and squeezing the twins in between, who just laughed. Pure joy and happiness. It was infectious, he could tell, as Joss was grinning when they pulled apart, and even Randy had a strange glimmer in his eyes that was almost like tears. Then his legs buckled, and River barely managed to catch him before he collapsed. </p>
<p>The wheelchair was next to him in a second, with Joss getting behind again, pushing her son towards his trailer. The twins looked scared all of a sudden, worrying about their brother.</p>
<p>“He’ll be fine in a few days, don’t worry. He just needs to rest,” River assured them. “So try to give him some space, okay?”</p>
<p>“Yes, Uncle River,” they agreed in unison, both adapting the same sullen tone. He couldn’t help but smile at them, then ruffled their hair, until Monique was jumping away from him, laughing as she shielded her head from him. </p>
<p>“You look so ugly,” Dorian told her.</p>
<p>“You are uglier!” she reacted as she shot her tongue out at him. </p>
<p>And they were off, chasing each other between the trailers, expertly navigating the narrow passages. River had a feeling they knew every nook and cranny of the trailer park. </p>
<p>He was left there, standing next to his truck all by himself, wishing a certain someone was there to share his happiness with. He thought about calling her again. He couldn’t get that news feed out of his mind. He just knew it deep within his bones, that it was her. That V went on a rampage through Arasaka Tower in hopes of saving herself. </p>
<p>Only the witnesses said there was no one in the taxi as it sped away. They could have been wrong. </p>
<p>“Uncle River,” he heard Randy call out to him, pulling out of his thoughts. “Can I talk to you for a few minutes?” </p>
<p>“Of course, Randy,” he agreed within a heartbeat, approaching the porch his nephew was waiting on. Joss was already heading towards the main trailer, probably ready to get some food for her son.</p>
<p>His nephew navigated into the trailer without his help, turning into the kitchen. River took a seat near him when he settled, looking inquisitively at him.</p>
<p>“So, I asked mom already, but she wouldn’t give me an answer. I want to thank that woman, that was with you, too. But mom wouldn’t give me her contact info. Why? She is a friend of yours, you hugged her there in the barn.”</p>
<p>River sighed. Randy was old enough to understand the truth. “Because even I cannot contact her now, Randy. She told me she was dying, when I last saw her yesterday, and since my message never got through to her, that means, that there was no one left for it to arrive to.”</p>
<p>“Ah, shit,” he muttered. “She seemed nice.”</p>
<p>“She was. Still is, hopefully. I will try to contact her again later.”</p>
<p>Randy gave him a look he couldn’t put anywhere. “You two were close?” Was River really that obviously smitten with her?</p>
<p>“I’d like to think so, yes.” </p>
<p>Randy just nodded his understanding and looked around the trailer. “Well, I think I better contact Nat and tell her what happened, explain things. And apologize to her,” he added, as he was on his way to his room already. “Did you crack my laptop?” he suddenly turned back to River, who was watching him from the kitchen still.</p>
<p>“V did. We saw your correspondence with Harris. You need to be more careful, kid.”</p>
<p>The boy murmured something under his nose, that he couldn’t make out. “Was it useful, at least, in trying to find me?”</p>
<p>“The video that you pulled from his site led us to your location, so yes, it was useful.”</p>
<p>“The video? It’s an ancient cartoon. How would you find anything from that?”</p>
<p>“It got Harris to dream, leading to some memories of his, that we could view as braindance footage. We saw the cityscape from one of these and could pinpoint the location of the barn he was keeping you boys in.”</p>
<p>Randy suddenly seemed impressed. “Didn’t know you could edit BD footage.”</p>
<p>“I can’t. It was all V. She walked through the memory, noticing things I never would have. She’s talented. Was,” he corrected himself quickly. He really oughta call her, to put his own mind to rest.</p>
<p>But his family came first. He decided to aid Joss in the kitchen; he was still better at cooking than she was. </p>
<p>Randy was still talking with his girlfriend an hour or so later. The food was ready by then and Joss didn’t want it to get cold, so she interrupted their chat, hauling Randy outside to eat. River was just finished pushing the full plates in front of the twins when they arrived, with his nephew taking the only empty seat at the table, right across River. </p>
<p>He sighed, then sat down to join the rest for dinner. He was halfway through his meal, when he got a call. </p>
<p>From V.</p>
<p>“V?” he choked on her name. It couldn’t be... “You’re alive.”</p>
<p>“Barely, but, yeah,” she croaked, her voice quiet and weak. “Hi, River. Was wondering if you wanted to come over? I’m way too weak to go anywhere right now, recently lost a lot of blood.” He was already pushing his chair back to stand. “But I’ll live, River. I made it. I kept my promise to you.”</p>
<p>“Yes, you did, V. You kept your promise. You in your apartment?”</p>
<p>“Yup.”</p>
<p>“I’ll be there soon,” he assured her, grinning in front of himself.</p>
<p>“Preem. See you then,” she said, then ended the call. </p>
<p>River was immediately turning to Joss, grin plastered to his face. </p>
<p>“Just go already,” she laughed. “Spend time with your girl. And don’t you dare come home tonight!” </p>
<p>“I wasn’t planning to. Mind if I scoop some food out for her? I doubt she ate anything lately.”</p>
<p>“Take as much as you want. And tell her to drop by here, whenever she feels like it.”</p>
<p>“She’s recovering right now, so it likely won’t be for a while.”</p>
<p>“At least tell her I say hi,” she insisted.</p>
<p>“Me, too!” Monique joined immediately.</p>
<p>“Yeah, tell her we miss her!” Dorian added, leaving Randy to just look around his family, not understanding their reactions. Then it dawned on him, as he saw just how happy River was suddenly.</p>
<p>“Ah, you did say, that you were close,” he deduced, to which River just hummed as he got some packed some food for V. “I say hi, too. And... give her my thanks, uncle.”</p>
<p>“Will do,” he hurriedly told him, already rushing to his truck.</p>
<p>He was by V’s apartment soon enough, parking in the same spot where she parked his car before. He remembered the way up to her place and was there in a matter of minutes. He was so nervous, his palms were sweating, as he paced in the elevator, just wanting to be there already. And when it stopped, the doors opened, he just stood there, taking deep breaths to school his expression at least a little bit. </p>
<p>Then he was at her door, knocking. No one stood behind it when it opened for him, even though he expected her to be there. He soon found her on her bed, her back against the wall, her cat purring on her lap. </p>
<p>“You were fast,” she grinned at him. For the first time since he’d known her, she wasn’t wearing makeup, and her skin was threateningly pale. She was still as beautiful as ever.</p>
<p>“I might have learnt a few tricks from a certain maniac with a death wish on the roads,” he grinned back and approached her, shedding his coat, and throwing it onto the couch to his right. The next second, he was kneeling next to her, his organic hand cupping her face. </p>
<p>And they just stared at each other for a good minute, with so much left unsaid between them, so much that didn’t need to be said. Then she was slowly reaching out to him, turning towards him for a kiss, but her face soon contorted in pain, and she weakly sagged back against the wall. </p>
<p>“Ah, fuck,” she muttered, screwing her eyes shut for but a moment, as she put a hand over her side. River could see the white bandage underneath her shirt, so he knew it was an injury, that was holding her back. “Kiss me?” she asked him. “I’m afraid I’m not very... mobile, for now.”</p>
<p>She didn’t need to ask him twice, he was already standing and kissing her, careful not to put any pressure on her hurt side or leg, that was also bandaged. She let out a satisfied moan as soon as their lips touched. He grinned into the kiss, that was interrupted by a jealous cat, that did her best to push her head up between them, to push them apart. </p>
<p>V chuckled, scratching behind the cat’s ear. “Well, aren’t you jealous, Nibbles?” </p>
<p>“Nibbles?” River asked back, letting out a small laugh as he petted the cat, then turned back to V. “Are you hungry? I brought you some food.”</p>
<p>“I can smell. But no, thanks. I can’t stomach any solid food just yet. I’m mainly on pills right now and Vik prescribed me some rest to get my strength back.” She carefully scooched over to the other side of the bed, patting the empty space next to her.</p>
<p>“Those Arasaka goons really did a number on you, huh?” he asked her as he put the food on the small table nearby. She was looking at him surprised, when he glanced back at her again.</p>
<p>“H-how did you...?”</p>
<p>“It’s all over the news. An assault on Arasaka Tower, that didn’t leave any of their employees alive.”</p>
<p>She suddenly looked scared. “Do they know, that I was... that it was me?”</p>
<p>He kicked his boots off and climbed next to her, putting his back against the wall. “They have no idea. They suspect it was a Militech covert operation.”</p>
<p>She scoffed. “Of course, corpos trying to take credit for my accomplishment. Shitheads. They wouldn’t have gotten past the lobby.”</p>
<p>“You killed a lot of people there, V.” Her eyes were instantly off him, focusing on her purring cat. “What happened to the Hanako-plan?”</p>
<p>“I threw it out the window when she let slip, that Mikoshi could be accessed from underneath Arasaka Tower. I could’ve asked many people to help get me there, but I didn’t want anyone to die for me in case it ended up not even working. But it worked, Johnny is gone permanently, Arasaka’s prison of souls is destroyed, and I’m alive. I’m lucky, Delamain got me to Vik in time, otherwise, I would have bled out.”</p>
<p>“You should definitely thank him. The stunt he pulled just to get you there safely is impressive.” She had no idea what he was talking about, he could tell by her furrowed brows. “The car you left the tower with was spotted and trailed by Arasaka, but soon many more Delamain taxis joined the fray as a diversion, taking attention away from the one that transported you.”</p>
<p>“Holy shit, I really should call Del tomorrow to thank him. But right now, I want to focus on you,” she said as she took his hand. “Do you still want this long-term? Do you still want me?”</p>
<p>“Would I be here if I didn’t?” he asked right back as he turned to his side. She shrugged, not knowing the answer. He just rolled his eye and kissed her, giving her the answer she sought.</p>
<p>“Good choice,” she murmured once they were apart, and snuggled close to him, despite the motions hurting her, judging by her pained grunts. </p>
<p>She was resting her head against his chest, their fingers intertwined, and he almost thought that she fell asleep, when after a few minutes of silence, he heard her speak.</p>
<p>“Valerie. My name is Valerie. Just... thought you should know... with you being my... boyfriend and all that.”</p>
<p>“Nice to meet you, Valerie. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”</p>
<p>“Oh, stop it with the flattery. It will get you nowhere,” she murmured as she put a soft kiss on his chest. It was the only place she could reach without pain shooting through her body. River chuckled at her obviously flattered tone and kissed the top of her head, burying his face into her soft hair. “At least not tonight. I can’t even get out of the bed yet, let alone have sex with you.”</p>
<p>“Do you really think I’m only here for that? Because I’m not. Spending time with you is enough. The mind-blowing sex is just the bonus.”</p>
<p>She hummed, satisfied with his answer. “Good. Because I think I won’t really be in the right health to do it again for a few days, at least. Some of my implants need replacing, having been damaged when my consciousness was in Mikoshi. Vik’s already looking for some replacements, but I will not feel better until all had been replaced.”</p>
<p>“You need a few days to rest, anyways. You’ve earned it.”</p>
<p>“You’re damn right I did,” she agreed as she yawned. “You’re not in a hurry to get home, right?”</p>
<p>“No. In fact, Joss told me not to go home to the trailer and just be with you instead. They say hi, by the way. Randy, too. We took him home this afternoon from the hospital. They’d all like to see you soon.” He kissed the top her head again as he carefully pulled her closer, to hug her to himself. “They miss their Auntie Valerie,” he whispered to her, causing her to laugh. </p>
<p>“Thanks. Now I feel like I’m forty,” she muttered. “Stick to V, okay?”</p>
<p>“When we’re with others. When we’re alone, I’ll call you Val. That work for you?”</p>
<p>She craned her neck up to kiss him. It couldn’t have been a comfortable position for her, but she didn’t so much as grunt a complaint as they kissed softly.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it works. But now I need to find a nickname for you.”</p>
<p>River raised an eyebrow. “You said already, that you had a few ideas.”</p>
<p>She frowned. “None of them fit anymore. I’ll need to think some more on it. But now, I’d like to just sleep with your arms around me.”</p>
<p>“Then close your eyes and sleep. I’ll be right here, when you wake up.”</p>
<p>River wasn’t lying. He had no intention to leave her alone, not when she needed him, and they’d already established their relationship. He was happy to be there, with her. He’d never been happier. </p>
<p>He knew, that this was only the beginning of a new, exciting chapter in his life, with a woman he loved by his side. Together, they would tackle anything that stood in their way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I decided to keep this the last chapter, mainly because while I do have a few ideas to keep their story going, I don't know when I'll get to it. I keep making notes for myself, possible cases for them to work on, story elements, etc., but it's a lot of work. If I write something, it's not going to be just a few thousands words, but probably even longer than this one. With shorter chapters. I like to keep the chapters around 3000 words long, so I'll likely stick to it.<br/>Anyways, thank you again for all of you, that commented and left kudos! As a first-time poster here, it means a lot to me! ^^<br/>(And as another afterthought, I've been working on a Resident Evil gameverse fic for about a year now. If any of you like the action/horror genre, you might soon find it on AO3.)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Feel free to share your opinions, I don't bite. ;)<br/>But needless to say, please, stay civil in the comments. We are living in trying times, everyone's on edge.<br/>Stay safe out there, everyone!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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